DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — At least four ships off the coast of the United Arab Emirates broadcast warnings Tuesday that they had lost control of their steering under unclear circumstances as authorities reported "an incident" was underway in the area.

It wasn't immediately clear what was happening off the coast of Fujairah in the Gulf of Oman.

The vessels — oil tankers called Queen Ematha, the Golden Brilliant, Jag Pooja and Abyss — announced around the same time via their Automatic Identification System trackers that they were "not under command," according to MarineTraffic.com. That...