Elements of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet were called to assist two oil tankers early Thursday morning, in distress after a “reported attack on tankers in the Gulf of Oman.”
The Bahrain-based force released scant details of the attack on the vessels. No blame was laid or state actor/terrorist organization named by ship operators or authorities in Oman or neighboring United Arab Emirates.
One of the ships, the Norwegian-owned MT Front Altair, was “suspected of being hit by a torpedo”, according to Taiwan’s state-owned petrol company. The ship was on fire, its owners said.
The second tanker, Kokuka Courageous, was damaged in a “suspected attack” that breached the hull above the water line while on passage from Saudi Arabia to Singapore, according to Bernhard Schulte Ship management.
The 5th Fleet said it had sent naval forces to the area to assist the two vessels.
Guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge (DDG-96) is providing assistance to ships that had called for help, spokesperson Cmdr. Joshua Frey told USNI News on Thursday morning.
Cmdr. Joshua Frey said his command was “aware” of the reported incident in the area. He declined to elaborate.
“We are working on getting details,” Frey told the Associated Press.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which is run by the British Royal Navy, put out a warning early on Thursday. It did not elaborate but said it was investigating.
Emirati officials declined to immediately comment. The coordinates offered for the incident by the U.K. group put it some 45 kilometers (25 miles) off the Iranian coastline.
The incident comes as Iranian media claimed — without offering any evidence — that there had been an explosion in the area targeting oil tankers.
The attacks come exactly four weeks after tankers were attacked in the region under similar circumstances, as reported by Breitbart News.
On that occasion the sabotage attacks were mounted off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) near the Strait of Hormuz. The attacks reportedly also damaged two ships from other nations, one of them registered to Norway.
The U.S. Maritime Administration issued an advisory to sailors in the area after that incident.
The agency also warned last month Iran and its proxies might “take action against U.S. and partner interests, including oil production infrastructure” by “targeting commercial vessels, including oil tankers.”
AP contributed to this report