UKMTO said the small boat had come within 300 meters of the ship in the Arabian Sea (Representational)

Dubai:

British maritime monitors said on Saturday that a security team boat aboard a large ship exchanged gunfire with armed men after it came suspiciously close to a ship in the Arabian Sea. British maritime monitors gave this information on Saturday.

“The boat closed for 300 metres, before turning back towards the mothership,” security firm Ambre said in an advisory note. He said the carrier and its crew were reported safe. It said the incident occurred 700 nautical miles southeast of Salalah in Oman.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) authority said it had received reports of an incident involving a small vessel and a merchant vessel 780 nautical miles east of Hafun in Somalia.

UKMTO said the small craft came within 300 meters of the ship, the ship’s security team fired warning shots and the small craft retreated after firing.

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