An Israeli car carrier sailing the Middle East Gulf reportedly escaped an attempted attack unscathed and is continuing its voyage.

The 7,700-ceu Hyperion Ray (built 2015) was approached by "two small fast attack vessels" on Tuesday while approximately 36 km (19.4 nautical miles) from Fujirah, maritime security consultancy Dryad Global said, but the vessels departed before any further escalation.

"[The] Hyperion Ray incurred no damages and is continuing at full speed on its original voyage," representatives for Rami Ungar said in a statement.

Ungar owns Ray Car Carriers, which is the listed commercial manager of the Bahamas-flagged Hyperion Ray, and Ray Shipping.

Neither Ray Car Carriers nor the Bahamas Maritime Authority immediately returned requests for comment from TradeWinds.

Morning attempt

Satellite images published by Dryad showing the alleged attack vessels are timestamped around 11 am local time (0700 GMT).

Automatic identification system data shows the ship in Kuwaiti waters on Saturday and offshore the United Arab Emirates from Monday. Its last broadcast said it was underway using its engine.

The European Awareness in the Strait of Hormuz security initiative backed by eight European countries said on social media that a Belgian warship was in the area where the attack occurred and was working on finding more information.

The alleged attempted attack is likely the latest in a string of tit-for-tat strikes between Israel and Iran, one of which involved another Ungar-controlled ship, the 7,721-ceu Helios Ray (built 2015).

Mosts recently, the 23,175-dwt Iran-flagged Saviz (built 1999) suffered an explosion on 6 April, which Israel was said to have taken responsibility for to foreign intelligence. The country was also said to have launched a cyberattack at the Natanz nuclear site on Iran on Sunday.

The Saviz is reportedly a forward base for the Iranian military under the guise of commercial operations, though Iran said it was there on an anti-piracy mission.

Iran promised retaliation for the Saviz attack, but only after it conducted an investigation into the incident. Officials said it had immediately suspected the US and Israel of being behind that incident.

Syria attacks

Israel is said to have carried out at least a dozen attacks against ships headed to Syria, sometimes carrying Iranian cargo, since late 2019.

Iran has launched attacks on its own, with the Helios Ray attack and a missile attack against the 3,614-teu Lori (built 2013) as it sailed the Arabian Sea.

The attacks come as the US and Iran attempt to revive the 2015 deal that saw Iran scale back its nuclear programme in exchange for the US lifting sanctions.

Former US President Donald Trump dropped out of the agreement in 2018, but new President Joe Biden intends to revive the deal. The two sides met in Vienna last week and reportedly made progress, though Iran demands the US lift sanctions before it stops enriching uranium.

Iran said on Tuesday it would begin enriching uranium to 60% purity, short of weapons-grade but to higher levels than ever before.