Two oil tankers sustained damage, in what multiple reports alleged “may have been the result of a deliberate attack.” Details of the incident were not immediately available, but one operator underlined that it suspected its vessel had been hit by a torpedo, while another shipping firm indicated that its vessel had caught fire due to unknown circumstances.
According to confirmed details of the incident, ‘the first search and rescue teams to respond to the incident were the Iranians, who picked up all of the 44 sailors from the two damaged vessels and transported them to the southern Iranian port of Jask,’ which in additional to its civilian operations also serves as a naval base of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations group, which is part of the British Royal Navy tasked with coordinating traffic in the Persian Gulf and nearby waterways, published an advisory, in which it called on vessels to exercise “extreme caution.”
In addition to the British advisory, the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, which operates in the region, said it was assisting the tankers after receiving distress calls. While TV7 will continue to follow the developments regarding this incident, no additional details have been made available at this time. It is important to note that the Gulf of Oman is situated at the entrance of the Strait of Hormuz, a major strategic waterway through which a fifth of global oil consumption passes from Middle East producers on a daily basis.