Crude oil tanker hit by unknown projectile while leaving Strait of Hormuz, UKMTO says

STRAIT OF HORMUZ — A crude oil tanker was struck by an unknown projectile while completing an outbound transit of the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said.

UKMTO, a British navy-affiliated body, said it had received a report of the incident and that authorities were investigating. It advised vessels to transit the Strait with caution, according to Middle East Eye.

Earlier report of a fire

Earlier on Friday, UKMTO reported that a vessel had been hit by an unknown projectile 40 nautical miles south of Iran's Lavan Island, Middle East Eye reported. The agency said the strike caused a fire on board.

The crew were reported safe, and there was no immediate environmental impact, according to the same account of the UKMTO statement.

The reports available do not say whether the vessel hit south of Lavan Island and the tanker described in the later UKMTO update are the same ship. They describe the earlier incident as involving "a vessel" and the later one as involving a crude oil tanker.

Al Jazeera Arabic also relayed the UKMTO statement in a "breaking" post on its Telegram channel. The post said a crude oil tanker had been targeted by an unknown projectile as it crossed the Strait of Hormuz. The Telegram post is unverified, but its content matches the account published by Middle East Eye.

What is not known

The sources do not say who fired the projectile or what type it was. They do not name the tanker, its flag, its owner or its cargo. They do not describe the extent of the damage, or say whether the fire was put out.

No government, shipping company or military has commented in the material reviewed. UKMTO said only that the incident was being investigated.

The Strait of Hormuz is a waterway between Iran and Oman. Lavan Island is an Iranian island in the Gulf, and the location UKMTO gave places the incident to its south.