According to Dryad Global’s most recent Maritime Security Threat Advisory (MSTA), instances akin to the M/T Pacific Zircon dominated the conversation about maritime security in the Indian Ocean last year, “with many vessels affiliated with both Iran and Israel targeted.”
Explosion
The MSTA emphasised that the M/T Pacific Zircon reported an explosion at the stern area while in passage southbound offshore Oman in the northern Indian Ocean region. Although not confirmed, Dryad wrote in the MSTA that the incident’s story strongly supports the suspicion that Iran was involved.
The most recent maritime security report from Dryad does not indicate that vessels with no connection to Israel or Iran are in increased danger of being attacked.
CNN reported that it had obtained exclusive photos “showing the damage and debris from a self-detonating drone attack against an oil tanker off the coast of Oman” in the wake of the Pacific Zircon incident.
Confirmation
CNN said that a “Western defence official” had provided the photographs. CNN emphasised that it was unable to independently confirm the veracity of the images.
There were no complaints of casualties or contamination after the Zircon incident, according to Eastern Pacific Shipping Pte. Ltd. (EPS), which confirmed that the tanker was carrying a cargo of gas oil, and the entire crew was safe and accounted for. The vessel’s hull sustained some minor damage, but there was no cargo spillage or water infiltration, according to EPS.
The Pacific Zircon tanker was the target of a one-way strike by an unmanned aerial vehicle produced in Iran, according to U.S. Central Command.
General Michael “Erik” Kurilla, the head of U.S. Central Command, said in a government statement last week that “this unmanned aerial vehicle attack against a civilian vessel in this critical maritime strait demonstrates, once again, the destabilising nature of Iranian malign activity in the region.”
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Source: Rigzone
