Singapore-Flagged Tanker Golden Brilliant in Gulf of Oman Lost Control, Report Claims

A new incident in the Gulf of Oman has been reported only days after the oil tanker Mercer Street, managed by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer, was attacked on 29 July and the Romanian captain and a British national were killed.

According to Refinitiv ship-tracking data, chemical tanker Golden Brilliant, travelling under the Singapore flag off the UAE's Fujairah in the Gulf of Oman, updated its AIS tracking status to "Not Under Command", indicating that the vessel was unable to manoeuvre because of exceptional circumstances.

According to Associated Press, on Tuesday four ships off the UAE coast issued warnings that they had lost control of their steering under unspecified circumstances. The authorities announced that "an incident'' was underway in the gulf, providing no further details.

The development comes less than a week after Mercer Street, a Liberian-flagged oil tanker managed by an Israeli billionaire was struck by a drone off the coast of Oman. Israel's Prime MInister Naftali Bennett said Tel Aviv had evidence that the attack was carried out by Iran. The US and the UK have also blamed Tehran, threatening with "collective response".

Iran has vehemently denied having any role in the incident and has threatened to respond to any provocation from a foreign power.