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Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said on October 10 that a supertanker struck a naval mine while attempting to leave the Strait of Hormuz along a route Tehran had not authorized.
In a statement, the IRGC Navy said the vessel had ignored warnings about unauthorized transit and warned that ships violating its rules would face further attacks.
“A massive fire awaits any violating oil tanker that seeks to disregard the security and regulations of the Strait of Hormuz,” the Corps warned.
The statement did not identify the tanker or give its precise location. However, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said a day earlier that a vessel was struck by an unidentified projectile about 13 nautical miles west of Al Jazeera in the United Arab Emirates.
In an advisory notice, the agency, run by the Royal Navy, said that the fire was extinguished and that authorities were investigating.
India’s shipping minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, identified the vessel as the Panama-flagged crude oil tanker MT GEM NO. 2 and said all 22 Indian crew members were safe after a drone strike while the tanker was anchored off Sharjah, according to The Indian Express.
Separately, the UAE National Guard confirmed that it had rescued 22 crew members from an oil tanker after receiving a report of a fire on board.
Commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz continued on October 10 but remained sharply below normal levels amid repeated attacks and Iranian threats against vessels using routes Iran considers unauthorized.
The vessel-tracking service Hormuz.now counted six commercial ships crossing in the preceding 24 hours, with a seven-day average of about 10 ships a day, compared with a pre-crisis baseline of nearly 85. The figures cover only vessels broadcasting their positions.
Meanwhile, data from shipping analytics firm Kpler showed seven commodity vessels crossed the strait on October 6, the lowest number since July 23, followed by 10 on October 7, according to Reuters. That remained well below the more than 20 daily crossings recorded on October 4 and 5.
The strait normally carries a substantial share of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies, making the prolonged reduction in traffic a major concern for energy markets.
Recent days saw an escalation in strikes on vessels attempting to pass the Strait of Hormuz without coordinating with Iran, which threatened to pursue vessels it considers in violation of its rules across the wider region.
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