An oil tanker linked to an Israeli billionaire has been attacked by a bomb-carrying drone off the coast of Oman. The attack occurred off the coast of Oman on Tuesday night, the Middle East-based defense official said. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday as he was not authorized to publicly report the attack.
The attack took place on the Pacific Zircon, a tanker owned by Israeli billionaire entrepreneur Idan Ofer and operated by Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping. The shipping company said there was slight damage to the ship loaded with gas oil. The crew was reportedly uninjured and the cargo was not damaged. The Liberian-flagged tanker left Sohar (Oman) on Monday afternoon and was on its way to Buenos Aires.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, a military organization that monitors shipping in the region, also said it was aware of an incident that was “being investigated”.
The incident drove up oil prices. The price rose 65 cents to $94.5 after the incident. Crude oil prices had risen earlier after a section of the Druzhba pipeline temporarily cut off oil supplies to parts of Europe, according to pipeline operators in Slovakia and Hungary.
