Oman Rescues 25 Crew Members From Burning Oil Tanker In Strait Of Hormuz

At least 25 crew members were safely rescued from a burning crude oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, Al Jazeera reported, citing Oman’s Maritime Security Centre.

The crew were aboard the merchant vessel RITI, the report said.

In a statement carried by Al Jazeera, the centre said the vessel was flying the Panamanian flag. Ship-tracking website MarineTraffic identified it as a crude oil tanker.

The incident came as Iran said it had halted four tankers attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz using “unauthorised routes”.

It was unclear whether the vessel whose crew were evacuated by Omani maritime authorities was among the four tankers.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said all four vessels were carrying oil and had been halted following “incidents” or after striking mines.

“Two offending oil tankers, one in the eastern part and the other in the western part of the Strait of Hormuz, which were attempting to pass through the unauthorised route, encountered incidents and were brought to a halt in the waters south of the strait,” the IRGC said in a statement on Friday.

Hours later, the IRGC said two more tankers, each carrying more than two million barrels of oil, had “exploded and caught fire” after striking mines while attempting to use an “unauthorised route”.

Meanwhile, Iran’s navy said on Friday that it had struck and destroyed an unmanned enemy craft east of the strait.

Iran has repeatedly warned vessels against passing through the strait without Tehran’s permission. It has claimed responsibility for attacks on ships and said last month that vessels attempting to transit the waterway without authorisation would face “destruction”.

Tehran has asserted control over much of the waterway since the United States and Israel launched their war on Iran on February 28.