PORTSMOUTH, United Kingdom, October 17 (ANI) — A tanker was struck by an unknown projectile about 68 nautical miles northeast of Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
UKMTO said it had “received a time-late report of an incident 68NM northeast of Al Jubayl, Saudi Arabia, of a tanker struck by an unknown projectile.”
All crew members were reported safe and had been evacuated. No environmental impact had been reported at the time of the update, UKMTO said.
“Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO while authorities are investigating,” the organization said in a statement.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed that an “illegal supertanker” carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude oil had been struck by a sea mine while attempting to pass through what it described as the “unauthorised” Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s ISNA news agency reported that the incident caused an explosion and a severe fire.
According to UKMTO’s weekly review, 135 such incidents have occurred amid the Iran-U.S. conflict in the Strait of Hormuz. Six ships have also been attacked in the Red Sea, which lies between Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump has maintained that the United States would continue its blockade of Iranian maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz while negotiations continue. He also claimed that oil was flowing through the strategic waterway in record volumes, with no Iranian oil involved.
As attacks on vessels continue in West Asia, India’s Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, said Friday that all 24 Indian seafarers aboard two vessels involved in separate incidents in the Strait of Hormuz and Romania were safe.
In a post on X, Sonowal said the crude oil tanker MT ST 3, carrying 15 Indian seafarers, was struck by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz on October 16. The chemical tanker YARA J, carrying nine Indian seafarers, was hit by a drone at Sulina Anchorage in Romania on October 14. (ANI)
About The Author
