Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday that a supertanker carrying more than two million barrels of oil had sunk after it struck a mine and caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz. The ship was one of two that hit mines while transiting the vital trade corridor, the Guards said, but there was no independent confirmation of the incidents.
“Over the past few hours, two oil tankers travelling along an unauthorised route in the southern part of the Strait of Hormuz struck naval mines, resulting in massive explosions and fire,” the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement carried by state television. “One of these vessels — a super tanker carrying over two million barrels of crude oil — sank in the southern waters of the Persian Gulf,” the statement added. It did not specify the names or origins of the tankers.
A British maritime monitor said on Sunday it was aware of a report by Indian shipping authorities of an attack on a tanker in the Gulf, but it was unclear if it was the same incident as the one announced by Iran’s Guards. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said the damage and environmental impact were unknown but the crew were safe.
The claim comes a day after Iran said three tankers had struck mines in the strait on Saturday, and Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported that five oil tankers had struck naval mines and caught fire in the waterway over the previous 48 hours. In recent weeks, Tehran has made multiple announcements saying ships had caught fire in the strait, often claiming they struck mines.
Since the outbreak of the Middle East war in late February, Tehran has heavily restricted traffic through the strategic waterway, insisting vessels use routes authorised by Iran, and it has regularly targeted ships that transit without its authorisation. The United States has in response imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports and helped tankers travel the strait, which normally carries about one-fifth of global oil.
The American military recently claimed to have cleared all mines from the main routes through the waterway. US Central Command, which oversees US military operations in the region, has been supporting ships traversing the waterway and said last month that it had helped Gulf countries export 1.5 billion barrels of oil via Hormuz since the summer. If the sinking is confirmed, it would mark a sharp escalation in the months-long standoff over the waterway.
