Tanker Hit by Projectile Near Al Jubail, All Crew Safe: UKMTO

Tanker struck by unknown projectile near Al Jubail in Saudi Arabia: UKMTO

Portsmouth, October 17

UKMTO said that it "received a time-late report of an incident 68NM northeast of Al Jubayl, Saudi Arabia, of a tanker struck by an unknown projectile."

All crew are reported safe and have been evacuated. There was no reported environmental impact at the time of the report, the UKMTO stated.

"Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO while authorities are investigating," UKMTO said in a statement.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed that an "illegal supertanker" carrying more than two million barrels of crude oil was hit by a sea mine while attempting to pass through the "unauthorised" Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's agency, ISNA, reported that the incident resulted in an explosion and a severe fire.

According to UKMTO's weekly review, 135 such incidents have occurred amid the Iran-US conflict in the Strait of Hormuz.

So far, six ships have been attacked in the Red Sea, which borders Saudi Arabia and Yemen as bordering countries.

Meanwhile, US President Trump has maintained that the United States would continue its blockade on Iranian maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz while negotiations continued. He also claimed that oil was flowing through the strategic waterway in record volumes, without any Iranian oil being involved.

As the attacks against vessels continue in West Asia, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal said on Friday that all 24 Indian seafarers aboard two vessels involved in separate incidents in the Strait of Hormuz and Romania are safe.

In a post on X, Sonowal said crude oil tanker MT ST 3, carrying 15 Indian seafarers, was struck by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz on October 16, while chemical tanker YARA J, carrying nine Indian seafarers, was hit by a drone at Sulina Anchorage in Romania on October 14.

— ANI