Oil tanker linked to Israeli billionaire reportedly attacked in Arabian Sea

An oil tanker with connections to Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer was reportedly attacked Thursday night in the Arabian Sea, killing two people.

The Liberian-flagged oil tanker Mercer Street was attacked, with a British crewmember and a Romania crewmember dying in the incident, The Associated Press reported.

“At the time of the incident the vessel was in the northern Indian Ocean, traveling from Dar es Salaam to Fujairah with no cargo onboard,” Zodiac Maritime, a company with Ofer’s Zodiac Group, said.

The statement said the attack was “piracy” and that the company is not aware of anyone else who was hurt. 

However, a statement by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said it suspected that the attack did not involve piracy and it is investigating the situation, according to the AP.

This is the second attack on a ship this month that had a connection to the Israeli billionaire. 

The attack comes as tensions between Iran and Israel continue to escalate amid discussions between Iran and other countries on reimplementation of the 2015 nuclear deal. 

Iran has been accused in the past of targeting Israeli ships, and Israel has been accused of attacking Iran’s nuclear program.

Iran said in July an act of sabotage caused minimal damage to a nuclear site and blamed Israel for the incident.

Israel refuses to confirm or deny responsibility for the attack, which had no casualties.