Iranian cruise missiles struck two Emirati oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, killing one Indian crew member, wounding eight others and leaving three sailors missing, according to authorities in the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
The UAE Ministry of Defence said the very large crude carriers Mombasa B and Al Bahyah were attacked while travelling through the southern shipping lane of the strait, inside Omani territorial waters.
ADNOC Logistics and Services, the shipping arm of the UAE’s state-owned oil company, confirmed that both vessels had been hit and suffered significant damage.
The sailor who died was aboard the Mombasa B, the UAE ministry said. Eight other crew members were injured, including four who were seriously wounded. Six of the injured were Indian nationals and two were Ukrainian.
Oman’s Maritime Security Centre said 18 crew members were evacuated from the Al Bahyah after it was struck off the coast of Musandam. Three other sailors remained missing.
Fires broke out aboard both tankers following the attacks, causing substantial material damage. The UAE defence ministry said the crews were eventually able to bring the fires under control.
The ministry condemned what it described as a blatant attack and said the UAE reserved the right to respond to the escalation.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said separately that it had hit and disabled two “offending” supertankers in the Strait of Hormuz after they allegedly ignored repeated warnings, switched off their navigation systems and attempted to travel through what it described as a mined route.
The IRGC did not identify the vessels, and it was not immediately clear whether its statement referred to the same ships named by the UAE.
Iranian authorities accused the United States of encouraging ships to use an illegal route through the waterway and warned that cooperation with Washington would lead to further damage, delays in reopening the strait and worsening disruption to global energy markets.
In a separate incident, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said a tanker was struck by an unidentified projectile about 40 nautical miles northeast of Qalhat, Oman.
The vessel’s master reported that the projectile hit the starboard-side engine room, although all crew members were said to be safe. It was not immediately clear whether the report was connected to either of the attacks announced by the UAE.
The incidents marked the latest escalation around one of the world’s most important energy corridors, following months of conflict between Iran, the United States and Israel.
ADNOC has played a major role in a U.S.-led effort to move Gulf oil to international markets through ship-to-ship transfers beyond the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. Central Command said on July 12 that it had helped facilitate the passage of more than 800 vessels carrying over 400 million barrels of crude through the strait during the previous two months, although it has not publicly confirmed involvement in the transfer operations.
The U.S. military carried out a third consecutive night of attacks against Iranian targets on Monday after President Donald Trump reinstated a blockade on Iranian shipping and proposed charging vessels a 20% fee for protection while travelling through the strait.
Iran’s top military command rejected Washington’s involvement, saying the United States had no authority to determine the future of the waterway.
The regional conflict began on February 28, when the United States and Israel launched attacks against Iran. Since then, Tehran has targeted U.S. bases in several Gulf countries, while fighting has disrupted shipping and raised doubts over an interim U.S.-Iranian agreement reached last month to reopen the strait and suspend hostilities.
Before the conflict, around one-fifth of the world’s daily oil and gas shipments passed through the Strait of Hormuz, including more than 15 million barrels of fuel worth at least $1.2 billion each day.