World

Oman Reports Two Sailors Missing After Tanker Struck in Strait of Hormuz

By Today News Hours Editorial Desk

Two sailors remain unaccounted for after an oil tanker was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Oman's Maritime Security Centre. Twenty-three other crew members have been rescued.

The centre said the Panama-flagged vessel El Gaia was being towed toward an Omani port on Tuesday after an engine room fire broke out. The tanker had been targeted approximately 1.3 nautical miles (2.4km) north of the Musandam peninsula.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards stated on Monday that the tanker struck naval mines while traveling through what they called a restricted and unsafe route, causing the fire. However, the US military disputed this account, saying the tanker had been hit by an Iranian missile last month and struck again by a drone over the weekend.

Separately, the UK Maritime Trade Operations centre reported receiving notice of a fire aboard a vessel that was hit by an unidentified projectile while crossing the Strait of Hormuz in the early hours of Sunday.

This follows a similar pattern from earlier in the month, when Iran claimed naval mines caused an incident involving the Sidr, a Saudi-owned oil supertanker, that killed two Filipino crew members. Saudi officials rejected that explanation, saying Iran had targeted the vessel, with maritime security firms reporting it was struck by projectiles north of Musandam.

According to the International Maritime Organization, at least 22 seafarers have died in 79 confirmed incidents across the Strait of Hormuz and broader Middle East region since the US and Israel entered into conflict with Iran at the end of February.

In a separate development on Tuesday, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported that