Oman Rescues 25 Crew After Tanker Fire as Iran Reports Three Vessels Halted in Strait of Hormuz

STRAPLINE: Conflicting claims over attacks, sea mines and permitted shipping routes deepen uncertainty for vessels navigating a waterway critical to global oil supplies.

By A1NEWS International
MUSCAT, Oman — Friday

Oman says its navy has evacuated 25 crew members from the Panama-flagged merchant vessel RITI after the ship was targeted and caught fire, as Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) reported that three oil tankers had been stopped following separate incidents in or near the Strait of Hormuz.

The reports point to mounting risks for commercial shipping through the narrow waterway, a major global energy corridor. But key details—including who targeted the RITI, the precise circumstances of the reported tanker incidents, and whether sea mines were involved—remain unclear in the statements cited by the parties.

The claims have not been independently verified.

Oman reports rescue after fire aboard RITI

Oman’s Maritime Security Centre said the navy carried out an evacuation operation after the RITI, a Panama-flagged merchant ship, was targeted, causing a fire onboard. The 25 crew members were taken to safety and provided with medical care, the centre said. It did not disclose further details about their condition or the extent of the damage.

The vessel-tracking website MarineTraffic described the RITI as a crude-oil tanker. Omani authorities did not identify who was responsible for the reported attack or specify where it occurred.

In a separate incident, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said a ship about 40 nautical miles (74 kilometres) south of Iran’s Lavan Island was struck by an unidentified projectile on Friday, causing a fire.

The crew were reported safe, and there was no reported environmental impact at the time of UKMTO’s statement. The agency did not identify the vessel or say whether the incident was connected to the fire aboard the RITI.

Iran says three tankers were halted

Iran’s IRGC said two oil tankers were stopped in waters south of the strait after allegedly attempting to use what Tehran considers an unauthorised route. The force said the vessels had received radio warnings but continued their passage.

The IRGC claimed the ships had switched off their navigation and positioning systems and were attempting to leave with support from the United States. It did not provide independent evidence for those assertions or explain the specific incidents that led to the tankers being halted.

In a later statement, the Guards said a supertanker carrying two million barrels of oil had stopped after an explosion, which it attributed to the vessel striking a naval mine while using an unauthorised route. The IRGC described it as the third tanker to have exploded and caught fire that day.

The claims follow a separate statement from Iran’s armed forces a day earlier that at least four tankers had stopped in the area after striking mines. The available statements do not establish whether those vessels were among the ships referenced in Friday’s announcements.

Dispute over safe passage and approved routes

Iran has demanded that vessels use a designated passage through the Strait of Hormuz and coordinate their movements with its armed forces. Tehran has labelled a southern corridor closer to Oman’s coast as unauthorised.

The dispute leaves commercial operators facing competing claims about which routes are safe and permitted. The statements reviewed for this report do not include independent confirmation of the reported mine strikes, the warnings allegedly issued to the tankers, or the vessels’ use of navigation systems.

US says main transit routes cleared of mines

The head of US Central Command, Brad Cooper, said in a video released Friday that US forces had cleared the strait’s internationally recognised primary transit routes of Iranian sea mines.

Cooper said US forces would remain in the area to keep those routes open. He also said Washington had helped Gulf countries export more than 1.5 billion barrels of crude through the strait since the summer. The figures and mine-clearance claims were not independently verified in the material available for this report.

The United States has also imposed a counterblockade of Iranian ports in response to Iran’s restrictions on traffic through the strait, further limiting Tehran’s ability to export oil and conduct trade.

A vital energy corridor under growing pressure

The Strait of Hormuz normally carries about one-fifth of global oil supplies, making interruptions to shipping a concern for energy markets and governments worldwide. Since the Middle East conflict began on February 28, according to the supplied reports, maritime movements through the passage have been increasingly contested.

The incidents described by Oman, the IRGC, UKMTO and US Central Command show sharply different accounts of the threat and the rules governing passage. Until the reported attacks, mine strikes and route restrictions are independently established, ship operators and the public are left to assess a fast-moving crisis through claims made by parties involved in the conflict.

Oman’s evacuation of the RITI crew has brought 25 sailors to safety, but it has not resolved the central questions surrounding the fire or the wider security situation in the Strait of Hormuz. With Iran and the United States advancing competing claims about routes, mines and maritime incidents, independent verification and clear safety information will be critical to reducing the risk to crews, vessels and global energy flows.

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Oman says it rescued 25 crew from the Panama-flagged RITI after a fire onboard, while Iran reports three tankers halted in the Strait of Hormuz. Competing claims over mines and shipping routes remain unverified.