DUBAI, July 20 – Sailors safely abandoned a vessel set alight after it was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency said Monday, as the United States and Iran vie for control over the vital waterway.
“The vessel was struck by an unknown projectile. The crew safely abandoned the vessel and have been recovered by a tug boat. The fire has not been extinguished and the vessel is currently adrift. There is no reported environmental impact,” UKMTO said in an update to their earlier statement.
Earlier, the agency had reported the ship was “on fire” eight nautical miles northwest of Kumzar, Oman.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said that two oil tankers trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz “exploded and were brought to a halt”.
During the war, Iran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and LNG used to pass.
As part of a memorandum of understanding signed with the United States, it has to work with Oman on the waterway’s future administration – which it has vowed will never be the same.
In recent weeks, Iran has hit tankers using a route hugging the Omani coast to traverse the strait, in a bid to strongarm vessels into using its own waters and to pay for safe passage. — AFP
