Three tankers catch fire after explosions in Strait of Hormuz
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on IOL
Three oil tankers caught fire after hitting mines while trying to cross the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says. Tehran is disputing a US statement that the main shipping routes have been cleared of mines, through a strait that normally carries around one-fifth of global oil and gas consumption, according to IOL.
Three oil tankers caught fire after hitting mines while attempting to pass through a prohibited shipping lane in the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said on Thursday. The vessels had switched off their radar and navigation systems and ignored Iranian warnings, according to a statement by the Revolutionary Guards quoted by AFP.
Iran considers the southern corridor near the Omani coast unauthorised. The announcement came a day after the US Central Command, CENTCOM, said that the main shipping routes had been cleared of mines. Revolutionary Guards spokesman Hossein Mohebi on Thursday asked Washington to provide independent evidence of the mine clearance.
The exact date of the explosions and the flags flown by the three vessels were not immediately established. The British maritime agency UKMTO separately reported a vessel on fire in the strait, without specifying whether it was one of the three tankers or reporting any casualties.
Since the start of the war on 28 February, Iran has sharply restricted traffic through this passage, which normally carries around one-fifth of global oil and gas consumption. CENTCOM says it has helped Gulf countries export 1.5 billion barrels of oil through Hormuz since the summer, while the Revolutionary Guards also announced the capture of an American MQM-170 reconnaissance drone.
