The ship Helios Ray, usually used as a vehicle carrier, was sailing to Singapore from Saudi Arabia when the explosion occurred. It was then diverted to a port in Dubai to assess the damage.
Washington has blamed Tehran for a number of attacks on shipping in strategic Gulf waters, including on four vessels, including two Saudi oil tankers, in May 2019. Iran distanced itself from those attacks.Tobias Siegal and Reuters contributed to this report.
Officials from the security firm Dryad that was securing the area have also said that they are examining the possibility that the Iranian military was involved.
“Whilst details regarding the incident remain unclear, it remains a realistic possibility that the event was the result of asymmetric activity by Iranian military,” Dryad said in a report.