Another Oil tanker hijacked off the Oman coast

One more cargo ship, owned by Empire Navigation with 145,000 tons of oil on board was hijacked by unknown armed men off the Oman coast. According to a post by the United Kingdom Maritime Organization (UKMTO) on its website, it received an SOS message on January 11th of the vessel being boarded by armed personnel. The report further said that the unauthorised personnel were wearing military-style black uniforms.

"UKMTO has received a report of a vessel being boarded by 4-5 armed unauthorized persons at approximately 0330UTC in an area 50Nautical Miles East of Sohar, Oman. Unauthorised boarders are reported to be wearing military-style black uniforms with black masks. Authorities are investigating. Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO.

Notably, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) is the same British maritime trade watchdog which alerted the Indian Navy a few days ago about a purported hijacking attempt at a Liberian-flagged vessel with an Indian crew.

Hinting at a possible confirmation of the armed takeover, the company Empire Navigation, operating the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker, said that 'it lost contact with a ship that was sailing near Sohar, heading to a Turkish port on January 11th.' The company also said that the tanker was loading around 145,000 tons of oil, which was loaded in Basra, Iraq.

According to some reports the vessel's AIS tracking system was turned off as it headed in the direction of the Iranian port of Bandar e-Jask at the time it made the report.