Four ships were targeted on Sunday near the strategic Emirati port of Fujairah, in what the UAE described as a "sabotage attack." One was flying a UAE flag, and another the Norwegian flag. The other two were tankers owned by Saudi Arabia, which described the incident as a threat to the security of global oil supplies.

There were no injuries or deaths, according to the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. It did not elaborate on the nature of the alleged sabotage, or offer any indication as to who might be responsible.

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Images that CNN captured of the Norwegian tanker, Andrea Victory, show damage sustained to the hull of the vessel. In a statement Monday, Thome Ship Management, which manages the ship, confirmed it suffered hull damage after being struck by an unknown object at the waterline and said that it was not in any danger of sinking.

One of the Saudi vessels was on its way to be loaded with Saudi crude oil from the port of Ras Tanura, to be delivered to customers in the US, Saudi Arabia's state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported Monday. While the agency didn't mention casualties or oil spills, it did say there had been "significant damage to the structures of the two vessels."

On Monday, the UAE formally asked the US for technical assistance in assessing the vessels' damage, according to a US official. The US experts will look at the damage patterns, try to recover any material from the site, and determine if some kind of missile or weapon hit the ships.

Britain warned Monday that armed conflict might be sparked “by accident” amid rising tensions between the United States and Iran, as U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held talks with officials from European powers that are racing to salvage a nuclear deal with the Islamic republic.

Britain’s foreign secretary offered the warning as Saudi Arabia said two of its oil tankers were sabotaged and received “significant damage” Sunday off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, one of the vessels as it was heading to pick up Saudi oil to take to the United States.

Washington has warned shipping companies that “Iran or its proxies” could be targeting maritime traffic in the Persian Gulf region and said it was deploying an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the Persian Gulf to counter alleged threats from Tehran.

“We are very worried about the risk of a conflict happening by accident, with an escalation that is unintended really on either side but ends with some kind of conflict,” British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told reporters in Brussels.

“What we need is a period of calm to make sure that everyone understands what the other side is thinking,” Hunt said, adding that he would share those concerns Monday with European partners and Pompeo.