OMM Newsroom
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said Saturday that a second supertanker had struck a naval mine and caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz, Anadolu Agency reported.
The tanker was carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude oil and had switched off its positioning and radar systems while trying to take what the IRGC described as an “unauthorized” route, the navy said in a statement.
The mine strike caused a major explosion in the vessel’s engine room and left the tanker immobilized, according to the statement.
The IRGC did not identify the vessel or provide information about its crew, casualties or possible environmental damage.
The incident followed an earlier IRGC announcement that a first supertanker had hit a naval mine while attempting to pass through what it called an “unauthorized” route in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has imposed restrictions on shipping through parts of the strategic waterway amid its conflict with the US, while insisting vessels follow routes authorized by Tehran.
The US and its regional allies have rejected Iran’s restrictions, maintaining that vessels have the right to freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy transit routes.
