Two sailors are missing and 23 others have been rescued following an attack on an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, Oman says. Oman’s Maritime Security Centre said the Panama-flagged El Gaia was being towed to an Omani port on Tuesday after a fire broke out in its engine room, adding that the vessel was targeted 1.3 nautical miles (2.4km) north of the Musandam peninsula.
Conflicting Accounts of the El Gaia Attack
Oman’s Maritime Security Centre said the Panama-flagged El Gaia was towed to an Omani port after a fire broke out in its engine room. The vessel was targeted 1.3 nautical miles (2.4km) north of the Musandam peninsula. On Monday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the tanker hit naval mines and caught fire while passing through what they described as a restricted and unsafe route. That narrative was flatly rejected by the United States military. It said the tanker was struck by an Iranian missile last month and again by a drone over the weekend. Meanwhile, the UK Maritime Trade Operations centre said it had received a report of a fire breaking out on board a vessel that was struck by an unknown projectile while transiting the Strait of Hormuz in the early hours of Sunday.
Escalating Casualties on Saudi Supertankers
The maritime emergency involving the El Gaia follows a separate, deadly incident earlier this month. Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter, said today (2 September) that an Iranian attack on an oil tanker owned by its national shipping company had killed two Filipino seafarers. Two Filipino sailors working for Saudi Arabia’s national shipping company, Bahri, have been killed in a security incident involving one of the company’s vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
The vessel, Sidr, was one of two supertankers carrying Saudi oil reported to have been hit late on Monday while transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Bahri said the seafarers were killed in a security incident involving Sidr at 23:40 local time (2040 GMT) on Monday. The company said the maritime security agency UKMTO reported on August 31 that a tanker had been struck by three unidentified projectiles while leaving the Strait of Hormuz.
“The kingdom stressed the necessity of halting escalations, and respecting international maritime safety and the security of global energy supplies,” the Saudi foreign ministry said.
Tehran has threatened tankers attempting to sail through the narrow waterway without authorisation, impeding energy exports from neighbouring oil-rich Gulf countries. Bahri said that it remains in continuous contact with the vessel and is coordinating closely with the relevant authorities and maritime industry stakeholders, while continuing to closely monitor developments.
Broader Maritime Disruption Across the Middle East
The International Maritime Organization says at least 22 seafarers have been killed in 79 confirmed incidents in the Strait of Hormuz and the rest of the Middle East since the start of the US and Israel’s war with Iran at the end of February. Bahri vessels have faced repeated security challenges across multiple trade routes. In July, another Bahri vessel, the Wedyan supertanker, was hit while passing through the strait close to Oman’s coast. Two other Bahri vessels, Masa and Amzan, were attacked in the Red Sea in July and August after the Iran-backed Yemen’s Houthis declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia.
U.S. Military Response and Regional Flashpoints
Also on Tuesday, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported that “enemy drones” had targeted two fishing boats in the strait overnight near the Iranian port of Kargan, about 80km (50 miles) north-east of Musandam. Fars, which is linked to the Revolutionary Guards, cited the deputy governor of Hormozgan province as saying that several fishermen were reported missing following the incident and that a search-and-rescue operation was under way. Later, a spokesman for the US military’s Central Command (Centcom) told the news website Axios that its forces had destroyed two boats which tried to steal a sea drone.
“Iranian small boats recently attempted to take possession of a US unmanned surface vessel, but they were unsuccessful after Centcom forcefully responded,” Capt Tim Hawkins said.
The Fragile Status of Global Energy Corridors
The Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil and gas shipments usually pass, has effectively been closed due to Iranian missile and drone attacks on commercial vessels and a US naval blockade of Iranian ports. About one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas trade used to pass through the Strait of Hormuz before the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on 28 February. The US and Iran reached a preliminary agreement to end the war and reopen the strait in June, but it collapsed within weeks after the Iranian attacks on shipping resumed and the US reinstated its blockade. Iran has insisted it will not give up some measure of control over the waterway and has targeted vessels using a southern route through Omani waters that avoids its preferred route through Iranian waters.
