Another Israeli ship has been targeted in what appears to be an Iranian attack, in the second such incident almost exactly one month apart.
There has been no official comment over the incident by Israeli government officials.
An Israeli security official speaking on condition of anonymity said the Islamic Republic is suspected of firing a missile at an Israeli-owned cargo ship in the Arabian Sea yesterday. Even though it sustained damage, the source said the vessel was able to continue its voyage between Tanzania and India after the attack.
Israel’s Ynet news website reported that the ship was sailing under a Liberian flag, while Channel 12 network named its owner as the Haifa-based XT Management.
According to the maritime Dryad Global (DG) security company, it suspects but is unable to confirm that the container ship is the MT LORI. DG revealed that the vessel was en route to the Indian port Mundra from Dar Es Salaam, came to a full stop and drifted for about three hours after the alleged attack, prior to resuming the journey at normal speed.
The 25 March incident follows the explosion aboard the Israeli-owned MV Helios Ray vehicle-carrier in the Gulf of Oman overnight between 25-26 February, in an attack Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran of perpetrating.
Officials in Israel and the United States said limpet mines used to target the ship ripped holes in both sides of its hull above the water line.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh denied any involvement by his country in the attack on the Israeli ship, saying at the time, “We strongly reject this accusation.”
The Ayatollah regime in Tehran alleged that Israel is highly likely to have been behind an attack on the Iranian Shahr e Kord container ship in the Mediterranean the first week of March.