U.S. Fifth Fleet says aware of "incident" involving commercial vessel in the Gulf of Oman

The Associated Press cited a defense official as saying that a Liberian-flagged oil tanker was struck in an exploding drone attack off the Gulf of Oman. The tanker was operated by the Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping, a company AP said was ultimately owned by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer.

The United States Navy's Fifth Fleet is aware of an incident in the Gulf of Oman involving a commercial vessel, Commander Timothy Hawkins told Reuters on Wednesday. The Associated Press cited a defense official as saying that a Liberian-flagged oil tanker was struck in an exploding drone attack off the Gulf of Oman.

The tanker was operated by the Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping, a company AP said was ultimately owned by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer. The Oman Maritime Security Centre, when contacted by Reuters, said it had no information at this time.

Representatives for Eastern Pacific Shipping were not immediately reachable for comment. According to the shipping tracking site MarineTraffic, the tanker, Pacific Zircon, was last seen off the coast of Liwa, Oman on Monday morning. It departed from Sohar, Oman on Monday afternoon with its destination set as the port of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

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