Two crew members were missing and one injured on Wednesday after a suspected U.S. missile strike on a tanker off the coast of Oman, maritime officials said.
“Ambrey assesses that this was likely the result of U.S. operations to blockade Iranian ports,” British maritime security group Ambrey said.
“In the past, crews have been warned to gather on the bow of a vessel before an attack on the stern.”
A second maritime security source also said the vessel was likely to have been hit by a U.S. missile.
U.S. Central Command (Centcom) was not immediately available for comment.
A Palau-flagged chemical/oil products tanker reported an engine room fire 20 nautical miles northeast of Oman’s port of Sohar, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said.
The vessel hit was the Settebello, according to British maritime risk management group Vanguard, which said the Omani Navy responded to the ship’s distress call.
The tanker was partially laden and last located off Oman’s coast on June 1, according to the MarineTraffic ship-tracking platform.
Its India-based operator, listed in databases, could not be reached for comment.
The United States began a blockade of Iran-related shipping on April 13 after Iran severely curtailed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a major global oil and gas route.
Centcom on June 8 said U.S. forces had disabled seven non-compliant vessels, redirected 134 others which complied, and allowed 42 vessels supporting humanitarian aid to pass.
There have been no reports of fatalities stemming from these operations.
U.S. forces disabled the unladen Marivex oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman on Monday after it attempted to sail to an Iranian port in violation of the ongoing blockade against Iran, the U.S. military said.
Ships being targeted include Iranian vessels as well as so-called shadow fleet tankers, which are typically older vessels without Western insurance used to transport sanctioned oil and sailing under the flags of various nations to obscure their true ownership, cargo and movements.
(Reporting by Jonathan Saul and Ahmed Elimam; editing by Alex Richardson and Jason Neely)
