LONDON, July 17– A tanker was struck by an unknown projectile off the coast of Oman, causing minor structural damage to its port side, with no casualties reported, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Friday.
The vessel’s company security officer reported the incident at 22:10 UTC on Thursday, about 19 nautical miles east of Khasab, Oman, near the eastern entrance of the Strait of Hormuz, according to a UKMTO advisory. All crew members were safe and accounted for, and the vessel continued to its next port of call.
In a separate incident, UKMTO said a vessel was boarded by unauthorized personnel while transiting the Gulf of Aden off Yemen’s southern coast.
The incident occurred about 65 nautical miles south of the port city of Mukalla, where military authorities reported that the vessel was boarded while sailing east through the gulf.
UKMTO said the incident remains under investigation and advised vessels operating in the area to exercise caution. The latest developments came amid heightened maritime security concerns in the Gulf of Aden and around the Strait of Hormuz, where commercial shipping has faced attacks and other security threats in recent months. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
