Omani maritime authorities successfully rescued 25 crew members from a burning crude oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, according to officials, amid an ongoing series of security incidents and shipping disruptions in the vital waterway.
The Omani Maritime Security Centre announced the evacuation of the personnel from the merchant vessel in a statement on Friday. While Omani officials reported that the ship was flying the Panamanian flag, tracking data from MarineTraffic identified the vessel as a crude oil tanker.
The incident unfolded as Iranian authorities reported that three oil tankers had been halted while trying to navigate what Tehran designated as “unauthorised routes” across the strait. It remains unconfirmed whether the burning tanker evacuated by Omani forces was among the three vessels intercepted by Iran.
According to statements from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), all three halted vessels were transporting oil, including one supertanker. The IRGC stated that the ships were stopped following unspecified incidents or after striking mines. In an initial statement, the military branch noted that two offending oil tankers—located in the eastern and western portions of the strait—encountered incidents and were brought to a halt in waters south of the waterway.
A subsequent IRGC statement confirmed that a third vessel, a supertanker carrying more than two million barrels of oil, exploded and caught fire after attempting to transit an unauthorised route. Concurrently, to the east of the strait, the Iranian navy reported that it struck and destroyed an unmanned enemy craft on Friday.
Tehran has repeatedly warned commercial shipping against navigating the waterway without explicit permission, claiming responsibility for previous vessel attacks and asserting last month that unauthorised ships would face destruction. Tehran has maintained control over significant portions of the passage since the United States and Israel initiated military action on February 28.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military has disputed Tehran’s assertions regarding naval mines in the area. U.S. Central Command chief Brad Cooper stated on Friday that internationally recognized primary transit lanes through the Strait of Hormuz have been successfully cleared of Iranian sea mines.
