The vessel was traveling along a route designated by the US in the Strait of Hormuz when it was targeted last night.
It was deliberately turning off its Automatic Identification System (AIS) to avoid detection and tracking.
However, this attack shows that even such measures cannot prevent vessels from being targeted and violate Iran’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz. The ship was the third oil tanker to be hit in the waters of the region in the past 24 hours alone.
The current conditions in the Strait of Hormuz indicate that vessel traffic is only possible through the northern corridor and with Iran's coordination, because based on maritime tracking data in the past few days, most vessels chose the route determined by Iran to pass through this strategic waterway, and most vessels that chose the southern route to pass were targeted, which shows Iran’s dominance and sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.
MNA