Israeli-owned ship targeted by suspected Iranian drone: officials

A container ship owned by an Israeli billionaire has come under attack by a suspected Iranian drone in the Indian Ocean as Israel wages war on Hamas in Gaza, an American defence official said.

The attack on the CMA CGM Symi on Friday comes as global shipping increasingly finds itself targeted in the weeks-long war that threatens to become a wider regional conflict — even as a truce has halted fighting and Hamas exchanges hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

The defence official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said on Saturday that the Malta-flagged vessel was suspected to have been targeted by a triangle-shaped, bomb-carrying Shahed-136 drone while in international waters.

The drone exploded, causing damage to the ship but not injuring any of its crew.

“We continue to monitor the situation closely,” the official said. The official declined to elaborate on what intelligence the United States military gathered to assess Iran was behind the attack.

In addition, Al-Mayadeen, a pan-Arab satellite channel that is politically allied with the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, reported that an Israeli ship had been targeted in the Indian Ocean.

The channel cited anonymous sources for the report, which Iranian media later cited.

AIS transmissions off

CMA CGM, a major shipper based in Marseille, France, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, the vessel's crew had been behaving as though they believed the ship faced a threat.

The ship had its Automatic Identification System tracker switched off since Tuesday when it left Dubai's Jebel Ali port, according to data analysed by the AP.

Ships are supposed to keep their AIS active for safety reasons, but crews will turn them off if it appears they might be targeted. It had done the same earlier when travelling through the Red Sea past Yemen, home to the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

“The attack is likely to have been targeted, due to the vessel’s Israeli affiliation through Eastern Pacific Shipping,” the private intelligence firm Ambrey told the AP. “The vessel’s AIS transmissions were off days prior to the event, indicating this alone does not prevent an attack.”

The Symi is owned by Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping, which is a company ultimately controlled by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer.

A phone number for Eastern Pacific Shipping in Singapore rang unanswered on Saturday, and no one responded to a request for comment sent by email. The Israeli military referred questions to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, which did not immediately respond.