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Iran reports tanker explosion, British report separate incident

The Iranian claim about a naval mine is unconfirmed; the crew involved in an incident near Saudi Arabia are safe, according to UKMTO.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard reported on Saturday that an oil tanker had exploded in the Strait of Hormuz after coming into contact with a naval mine. There is no independent confirmation. The British maritime information service UKMTO separately reports that a tanker near Saudi Arabia was struck by an unknown projectile on Friday.

According to the Revolutionary Guard's statement, the vessel in Hormuz was carrying more than two million barrels of crude oil. The tanker was said to have followed a route for which Iran had not given permission. Reuters reported on this statement on Saturday morning, citing Iranian media. Both the stated cargo and the cause of the reported explosion therefore come from the Iranian account; they are not independently established facts.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports that the Guard did not name the vessel or provide information about the crew or the extent of the damage. The broadcaster could not independently verify the claims. It therefore also remains unclear exactly which vessel is being referred to. Without that identification, reports from an owner, flag state or crew cannot reliably be linked to this statement.

In UKMTO's separate report, more is known about the position and those on board. According to the service, a tanker was struck on Friday 68 nautical miles north-east of the Saudi city of Jubail. The Greek public broadcaster ERT reports that UKMTO announced the incident on Saturday. RFE/RL describes it as a report received after a delay. This is therefore news that became available on Saturday about an event a day earlier.

All crew members on that vessel are safe and have been evacuated, according to UKMTO. No environmental impact had been reported at the time of the report. That last point is a provisional account of the situation: the wording states what was known to the service and does not constitute a full assessment of any damage. The reporting consulted describes the projectile as unknown and does not identify anyone responsible.

A day earlier, the Iranian navy had also reported an oil tanker on fire, on that occasion in the Gulf of Oman, east of the Strait of Hormuz. Reuters wrote on Friday that the navy did not give a cause for that fire. According to that Iranian statement, the vessel had switched off its tracking systems and was sailing through an area that Iran considered prohibited. These, too, were statements by the Iranian authorities.

These reports do not establish whether the Iranian reports on Friday and Saturday concern the same vessel. They therefore cannot simply be counted as two separate tanker fires. Nor has it been demonstrated that the incident near Jubail is connected to the reported explosion in Hormuz. What is chiefly missing for a complete picture is identification of the vessels and independent information about the cause of the incident reported by Iran. For now, the confirmed news development is that these statements and the British incident report have been issued.

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