Fatal Attack On Tanker Off Oman Blamed On Suicide Drone: Report
Two individuals on board Israeli-operated oil tanker have been killed in what may have been a drone attack on the ship in the Gulf of Oman. Details of what happened aboard the M/T Mercer Street are still emerging, but, if this was indeed an attack, the deaths of a British and a Romanian national onboard the vessel would represent a significant escalation over previous incidents involving commercial shipping in the region in recent months. Many of these attacks are at least widely suspected to be the work of Iran or its regional proxies, and appear to be part of a shadow war on commercial and military ships between Israel and Iran.
According to online ship-tracking data, the M/T Mercer Street had departed from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania on July 21 and was heading to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates when it came under attack at around 6:00 pm Coordinated Universal Time on Thursday, while it was 152 nautical miles northeast of Duqm, Oman.
The oil tanker, at 28,400 gross registered tons, sails under the Liberian flag and has a Japanese owner. It is operated by Zodiac Maritime, a London-based company that belongs to the Israeli Eyal Ofer, a billionaire real estate and shipping magnate, and a philanthropist. According to the Jerusalem Post, there was no oil or other cargo aboard Mercer Street at the time of the attack.
