In what is still a developing story as of this writing, UK Maritime Trade Operations, part of the Ministry of Defense, has reported what it says is a “potential hijacking” of a commercial vessel called the Asphalt Princess just off the east coast of the UAE outside the Strait of Hormuz. British sources believe the Asphalt Princess has been hijacked and are “working on the assumption Iranian military or proxies boarded the vessel,” Reuters reported, citing the Times newspaper. As of 1930 GMT, the website Marinetraffic.com showed the Asphalt Princess underway on its own power moving in a northerly direction after it had been silent for about an hour and forty-five minutes.
The first reports of the potential hijacking were preceded by an Associated Press story reporting that four vessels in the same waters (the Asphalt Princess was not among them) were broadcasting warnings via their Automatic Identification System (AIS) transmitters that they were no longer under their own control. The UK MTO would only say that there was an “incident” in progress.
