Zodiac Management stated that the incident involved a Japanese-owned, Liberian-flag oil tanker Mercer Street.

A company run by an Israeli businessman stated that after British officials said they were investigating reports of an attack off the coast of Oman, one of its ships was targeted by a “suspected piracy incident.

London-based Zodiac Management, part of the Zodiac Group owned by the Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer, issued a statement on Friday stating that the ship is a Liberian-flag tanker Mercer Street and is owned by the Japanese.

“At the time of the incident, the ship was in the North Indian Ocean from Dar es Salaam to Fujairah. There was no cargo on board,” it said on Twitter.

We issued a statement regarding the situation involving M/T Mercer Street: pic.twitter.com/V7L4fBmnEQ

-Zodiac Maritime (@Zodiac_Maritime) July 30, 2021

after awhile statement A source from the British Maritime Trade Department said that the incident was being investigated, saying that the incident occurred in the northeastern part of Masira, Oman, late on Thursday.

The statement did not elaborate, but only expressed suspicion that the attack did not involve piracy.

Satellite tracking data from MarineTraffic.com showed that the ship was already close to the location of the attack described by British officials.

In a statement to Al Jazeera late on Friday, a spokesperson for the British Ministry of Defence said: “We are aware of reports that a merchant ship was attacked off the coast of Oman. The British military headquarters in the area is currently investigating. .”

Oman did not immediately acknowledge the attack, and Israeli officials did not comment.