Two Sailors Missing After Oil Tanker Attacked in Strait of Hormuz

Two sailors are missing and 23 others have been rescued following a destructive attack on the Panama-flagged oil tanker El Gaia in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Oman’s Maritime Security Centre. The vessel sustained significant damage when a fire broke out in its engine room, prompting authorities to tow the damaged ship toward an Omani port.

The Attack and Conflicting Narratives in the Strait

On Monday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed that the tanker hit naval mines and caught fire while navigating what they described as a restricted and unsafe route. The United States military rejected this account entirely, insisting that the Iranian report was false. According to the U.S. military, the tanker was struck by an Iranian missile last month and hit again by a drone over the weekend.

Adding to the timeline, the UK Maritime Trade Operations centre reported receiving an alert regarding a fire on board a vessel struck by an unknown projectile while transiting the Strait of Hormuz in the early hours of Sunday. Oman’s Maritime Security Centre specified that the vessel was targeted 1.3 nautical miles (2.4 kilometers) north of the Musandam peninsula.

A Growing Human and Economic Toll

This event follows a similar incident earlier this month that killed two Filipino sailors on the Saudi-owned oil supertanker Sidr. While the Iranian Revolutionary Guards asserted that the Sidr caught fire after hitting a naval mine, Saudi authorities countered that it was targeted directly by Iran. Maritime security firms reported that the vessel was struck by projectiles north of Musandam.

Photo: the-star.co.ke

The International Maritime Organization reports that at least 22 seafarers have been killed across 79 confirmed incidents in the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Middle East since the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran began at the end of February. The Strait of Hormuz—a critical global artery through which a fifth of the world’s oil and gas shipments typically pass—has effectively ground to a halt. The closure stems from continuous Iranian missile and drone attacks on commercial vessels coupled with a U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports.

Fragile Diplomacy and Maritime Routes

The U.S. and Iran reached a preliminary agreement in June to end the conflict and reopen the crucial waterway, but that pact collapsed within weeks as Iranian attacks on shipping resumed and Washington reinstated its blockade. Iran maintains that it will not relinquish control over the waterway and has increasingly targeted commercial vessels utilizing a southern route through Omani waters that avoids the regime’s preferred lanes inside Iranian territory.