Strait of Hormuz: Oman rescues 25 sailors from burning oil tanker
Omani forces evacuated the crew of the Panama-flagged tanker RITI. Iran reports a supertanker explosion; the US denies there are mines on the main routes.
Symbolic image · Photo: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (cropped and resized)
Oman's Maritime Security Centre on Friday evacuated 25 crew members from the burning tanker RITI in the Strait of Hormuz. According to Oman, the ship sails under the flag of Panama; the MarineTraffic platform lists it as a crude oil tanker. What caused the fire is unclear, as is whether RITI is one of the tankers Iran has referred to.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said three tankers had been stopped while trying to use "unauthorised routes". They later said a supertanker carrying more than two million barrels of oil had "exploded and caught fire". Iran's navy said it had destroyed an unmanned craft east of the strait. These claims have not been independently confirmed.
The US rejects Iran's mine claims. The head of US Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, said the internationally recognised main routes through the strait had been cleared of Iranian sea mines. Tehran has claimed control over much of the waterway since the war began on 28 February.