Oman: Two Sailors Missing After Oil Tanker Attacked in Strait of Hormuz, 23 Rescued

MUSCAT (Terror Monitor) — Two sailors are missing after an oil tanker came under attack in the Strait of Hormuz, while 23 other crew members were rescued, Oman’s Maritime Security Centre said.

The Panama-flagged oil tanker Al Gaya was sailing toward an Omani port on Tuesday when it was targeted, according to the Omani authorities.

The Maritime Security Centre said a fire broke out in the vessel’s engine room after the incident. The tanker was targeted approximately 1.3 nautical miles (2.4 kilometers) north of the Musandam Peninsula, according to the center.

Rescue operations were launched following the incident, with 23 crew members rescued from the vessel. Two sailors remained unaccounted for as authorities continued efforts to locate them.

The incident occurred amid heightened tensions in and around the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most strategically important maritime routes and a major transit corridor for global oil shipments.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had previously said the tanker caught fire after encountering naval mines while traveling through a route it described as “prohibited and unsafe.”

The U.S. military rejected the Iranian account as false.

According to the U.S. military, the tanker had been targeted by an Iranian missile last month and was struck again by a drone over the weekend.

The conflicting accounts over the cause of the fire and the circumstances surrounding the tanker incident come as maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz remains under heightened security concerns.

The strait, located between Iran and Oman, connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. Any disruption to shipping through the waterway could have significant consequences for international energy markets and global oil supplies.