Ambrey, a British maritime security company, said that a hijack signal sent by a Panamanian flagged petroleum products tanker near Iran was a false alert.

Ambrey reported the incident on Tuesday, south of the busy Strait of Hormuz shipping lanes without naming "UAE-linked vessel". It reported that the incident took place about 51 nautical miles north of Bandar-e Jask, an Iranian port.

The incident was referred to as a "false distress call" by the agency on Wednesday. It added that "we understand that the vessel has previously carried out similar actions".

Ambrey stated that it believed the tanker was part of an "shadow fleet" of Iranian oil tankers, noting the presence of a sister vessel on the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control's (OFAC) sanctions list.

(source: Reuters)