A waterway that normally carries about a fifth of global oil is operating at about 70 percent below pre-war levels, placing crews and fuel shipments in an increasingly hazardous passage.
The cause of the fire on the RITI, and responsibility for the vessel being targeted, were not identified in Oman’s account. Iran has asserted control over much of the Strait of Hormuz since the US and Israel launched the war on Iran on February 28, and has demanded that vessels use a designated route and coordinate their transit with its armed forces.
The RITI, a Panama-flagged merchant ship identified by the MarineTraffic ship-tracking website as a crude oil tanker, was targeted and caught fire 1.6 nautical miles off the coast of Musandam Governorate in the Strait of Hormuz.
Oman’s Maritime Security Centre evacuated 25 crew members from the burning vessel and said they received medical care.
The incident was one of several reported around the strait on Friday. A separate ship, 40 nautical miles south of Lavan Island, was struck by an unknown projectile, causing a fire on board.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said two oil tankers attempting to use an unauthorised route had encountered incidents and been brought to a halt in waters south of the strait.
The Guard separately said two further tankers, each carrying more than two million barrels of oil, “exploded and caught fire” after hitting mines while attempting the same kind of route. That account has not established any link between those vessels and the RITI.
Iran’s Navy said on Friday that it had struck and destroyed an unmanned enemy craft east of the strait.
Iran said last month that vessels attempting to pass through Hormuz without authorisation would face “destruction”.
United States Central Command chief Brad Cooper said the strait’s “internationally recognised primary transit routes” had been successfully cleared of Iranian sea mines.
Yet attacks have continued to concentrate on the southern route. Of 81 attacks on ships in the strait since July 6, 59 were on that passage, according to the U.K. Marine Trade Operations Centre.
US Central Command said its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz had redirected 144 vessels. More than 50,000 US service members are in the region, while Washington has helped Gulf countries export more than 1.5 billion barrels of crude through the strait since summer.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that Trump had made no decision on fresh strikes on Iran and that the US would be open to a diplomatic solution.
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