The vessel reportedly had its tracker turned off, an indication that crew members seemingly anticipated a risk within the area.

A suspected drone assault has hit a container ship owned by an Israeli businessman within the Indian Ocean, in accordance with a United States defence official.

The assault was seemingly carried out utilizing an Iranian-made Shahed-136 drone on Friday, an unnamed US defence official informed The Related Press information company on Saturday. Pan-Arab satellite tv for pc channel Al Mayadeen additionally reported that an Israeli ship had been focused within the Indian Ocean.

The drone focused the Malta-flagged, French-operated CMA CGM Symi vessel whereas in worldwide waters. The ship reportedly suffered harm after the drone exploded, however no crew members have been injured.

The US official didn’t present any proof of an Iranian hyperlink to the assault, and mentioned “we proceed to watch the state of affairs carefully”. Iran has not commented on the studies.

Maritime safety firm Ambrey mentioned within the days earlier than the assault, the ship’s monitoring transmissions had stopped shortly after departing port within the United Arab Emirates.

“The vessel was managed by an Israeli-affiliated firm, which was assessed to be the explanation why it was focused,” Ambrey mentioned.

In accordance with the AP, the vessel’s crew had been behaving as if they believed the ship could face a risk as they’d switched off its monitoring system since Tuesday, after leaving Dubai’s Jebel Ali port. The ship had carried out the identical earlier when travelling by the Crimson Sea previous Yemen.

From Yemen, the Iran-aligned Houthis have launched a number of rounds of missile and drone assaults on southern Israel since Israel declared conflict on Gaza final month within the wake of a Hamas assault that killed greater than 1,200 folks, in accordance with Israeli officers. Thus far, the Israeli bombardment has killed about 15,000 Palestinians, together with greater than 6,150 youngsters, Palestinian officers say.

Earlier this week, the Houthis additionally took management of a ship on Yemen’s Crimson Beach which they mentioned was Israeli. However Israel described it as a British-owned and Japanese-operated cargo vessel with no Israeli nationals on board.

Iran and Israel have been engaged in a shadow conflict for years that has additionally included previous claims of Iranian involvement in assaults on Israeli-owned ships. Tehran has formally denied orchestrating such assaults previously.

If the assault on the Symi vessel got here late on Thursday, it could imply it occurred simply hours earlier than a truce between Israel and Hamas got here into impact. Israel had additionally ramped up its assaults on Gaza within the hours previous the truce, in accordance with the United Nations.

Israelis and another nationals held captive in Gaza have been launched on Friday in trade for dozens of Palestinian ladies and youngsters imprisoned in Israel. Extra exchanges are anticipated to happen till the top of the four-day truce on Monday, which may be prolonged.