British navy group: ‘Potential hijack’ of ship off UAE coast

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The British navy warned Tuesday of a "potential hijack" of a ship off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in the Gulf of Oman, without elaborating. 

The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations initially warned ships Tuesday that "an incident is currently underway" off the coast of Fujairah. Hours later, they said the incident was a "potential hijack." They did not elaborate. 

The U.S. military's Mideast-based 5th Fleet and the British Defense Ministry did not immediately return calls for comment. The Emirati government did not immediately acknowledge the incident. 

Earlier, four oil tankers announced around the same time via their Automatic Identification System trackers that they were "not under command," according to MarineTraffic.com. That typically means a vessel has lost power and can no longer steer. One of them later began moving.