Several ships are burning in the Persian Gulf after Iran reported that it had attacked about 20 vessels that tried to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, Agence France-Presse reported, citing the British Maritime Trade Operations Agency (MTO), BTA reports.
Fires are burning on several ships as a result of “ongoing military action in this region“, the MTO wrote, but indicated that it was not possible to confirm at this stage whether there were any casualties.
Among them is a tanker loaded with about two million barrels of Iraqi crude oil, Iraqi port authorities told Reuters today.
According to them, the fire is exploded aboard the Panamanian-flagged oil tanker “New Andros” after it was hit around 6 a.m. this morning by a drone in Iraqi territorial waters. There were no reports of casualties among the 22 crew, the authorities added.
Separately, the British agency reported another incident today, 24 nautical miles from Port Rashid in the UAE.
The organization said a ship was seen "listing" while at anchor, which may indicate it was hit by an "unspecified type of projectile".
Yesterday, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) destroyed five Iranian crude oil tankers, following an attempted missile strike on a US warship the previous day.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had attacked two US ships and eight oil tankers in the Gulf in response to the US attack on the Iranian tankers.
CENTCOM, however, denied in a post on the social network Ex these claims.
“Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claims to have hit two US naval destroyers (destroyers) operating in the Middle East. This is completely false“, it said.
The IRGC added that ten vessels attempted to cross the Strait of Hormuz area, which it called “forbidden and dangerous“.