The UAE’s existing Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline (ADCOP), also known as the Habshan-Fujairah pipeline, can carry up to 1.8 million barrels per day, and has proved crucial as the country seeks to maximize direct exports from the Gulf of Oman coast.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia are the only Gulf producers with pipelines that export crude outside the Strait of Hormuz, while Oman has a long coastline on the Gulf of Oman.
The narrow waterway between Iran and Oman was effectively shuttered by Iran in response to a US-Israeli air and naval campaign that began on February 28, choking off about a fifth of global oil supplies that normally flow to Asia and elsewhere.
A ship off the UAE coast near the Strait of Hormuz has been taken by unknown people and is now headed towards Iranian waters, a UK maritime agency said on Thursday.
The vessel was “taken by unauthorized personnel whilst at anchor” 38 nautical miles (70 kilometers) northeast of Fujairah, and “is now bound for Iranian territorial waters,” according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center.
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Several ships have been attacked in or near the key waterway as Iran and the United States push on with rival blockades.
Iran has largely blocked shipping through the Strait of Hormuz -- which normally carries one fifth of the world’s oil and LNG shipments -- since the outbreak of war with the United States and Israel on February 28.
The United States has imposed its own naval blockade on Iranian ports despite a fragile ceasefire in place since April 8.
On Sunday, South Korea said a cargo ship had been struck by unidentified aircraft in Hormuz, while Qatar said a freighter arriving in the country’s waters from Abu Dhabi was hit by a drone.