DUBAI/COPENHAGEN: Two oil tankers collided and caught fire on Tuesday (Jun 17) near the Strait of Hormuz, where electronic interference has surged during conflict between Iran and Israel, but there were no injuries to crew or spillage reported.
With Iran and Israel firing missiles at each other since Friday, interference has disrupted navigation systems near the vital waterway between Iran and Oman which handles about a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil.
The United Arab Emirates coast guard said it had evacuated 24 people from one of the ships, Adalynn, to the port of Khor Fakkan after the crash 24 nautical miles off its eastern coast.
Personnel on the second tanker, the Front Eagle, were reported safe with no pollution seen after a fire on its deck, according to its owner, the Oslo-listed company Frontline.
Frontline later told Reuters the incident would be investigated, but there was no suggestion of outside interference.
The Front Eagle was loaded with 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude oil and was en route to Zhoushan in China, according to monitoring service TankerTrackers.com.
The Adalynn, a Suezmax-class tanker owned by India-based Global Shipping Holding Ltd, had no cargo and was sailing towards the Suez Canal in Egypt, the monitoring service said.
TankerTrackers.com said on X that the Front Eagle was moving southbound at a speed of 13.1 knots when it “executed a starboard (right) turn, resulting in a collision with the port quarter (aft port side)” of the Adalynn, which was proceeding southeast at 4.8 knots.
