Oman says it’s searching for two crew members after tanker hit

Oman says it is searching for two missing crew members who were aboard a tanker targeted in the Strait of Hormuz that is now being towed.

Vessels in the vital strait have come under repeated attack as Tehran seeks to maintain a stranglehold on the waterway in its war with the United States. Washington has also kept up a counterblockade of Iranian ports.

The Omani Maritime Security Center says it is overseeing a towing operation for the Panama-flagged oil tanker ELGAIA to a port in Oman after a fire was extinguished in its engine room following an attack northeast of Musandam.

The center, which is affiliated with Oman’s Ministry of Defense, adds in a statement on X that “a Royal Navy of Oman vessel evacuated 23 crew members from the tanker and provided them with the necessary medical care.”

A search continues for two crew members who remain missing, it adds.

Oman does not say when the ship was attacked.

However, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), a marine monitor, says a vessel had been on fire on Saturday after it was struck by an “unknown projectile” in the Strait of Hormuz.

British maritime security firm Vanguard Tech also reports that a Panama-flagged tanker had been struck that day and that the Omani navy was evacuating the crew.