Iranian ships laden with explosives appear to have attacked two fuel tankers in Iraqi waters, setting them alight and killing a crew member, after projectiles hit three ships in Gulf waters, according to reports.
The ships targeted in Wednesday’s overnight attacks in the Gulf near Iraq were the Marshall Islands-flagged Safesea Vishnu and the Zefyros, which had loaded fuel shipments in Iraq, two Iraqi port officials told the Reuters news agency.
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“We recovered the body of a foreign crew member from the water,” a port security official said, as Iraqi rescue teams continued searching for other missing sailors. It was not immediately clear which ship that person was linked to.
An Iraqi port security source said Zefyros is flagged in Malta and provided Reuters with a list of crew names.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Baghdad, Iraq, Mahmoud Abdelwahed, said the tankers were loaded with crude oil from the port of Umm Qasr in southern Iraq, in Basra province, and were attacked shortly after their journey began.
“Iraqi officials say this is a flagrant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty given the fact that this act of sabotage, they say, occurred in Iraq’s territorial waters,” Abdelwahed said.
Reuters said the reports about the use of unmanned surface ships loaded with explosives, which Ukraine has used to great effect in its war with Russia, come as Iran has blocked the transit of oil shipments through the important Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil transits but which has been blocked amid the US-Israel war against Iran.
Reuters, citing two anonymous sources, also reported on Wednesday that Iran has deployed about a dozen mines in the strait, while US President Donald Trump said US forces had attacked 28 Iranian mine-laying vessels, amid warnings from Trump of serious repercussions if Iran placed mines in the key waterway for global shipping.
Sealed Strait of Hormuz
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has warned that any ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz will be a target.
The Thai-flagged dry bulk carrier Mayuree Naree was hit by “two projectiles of unknown origin” while sailing through the strait early Wednesday, causing a fire and damaging the engine room, the ship’s operator, Thailand-listed Precious Shipping, said in a statement.
“Three crew members are reported missing and are believed to be trapped in the engine room,” Precious Shipping said.
“The company is working with the relevant authorities to rescue these three missing crew members,” he said, adding that the remaining 20 crew members had been safely evacuated and were on the ground in Oman.
Images shared by Thai news outlet Khaosod English showed what were reported to be members of the ship’s crew after its rescue by the Oman navy.
The IRGC said in a statement published by the semi-official Tasnim news agency that the ship was “fired upon by Iranian fighters,” suggesting the first direct confrontation by the IRGC, which had previously fired missiles or drones.
The Japanese-flagged container ship ONE Majesty also suffered minor damage on Wednesday from an unknown projectile 25 nautical miles (about 46 kilometers) northwest of Ras al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, two maritime security companies said. Its Japanese owner Mitsui OSK Lines and a spokesman for Ocean Network Express, its charterer, said the ship was struck while anchored in the Gulf and an inspection of the hull revealed minor damage above the waterline.
All crew are safe, they said, adding that the ship remains fully operational and seaworthy. The owner said the cause of the incident was still unclear and was under investigation.
A third vessel, a bulk carrier, was also hit by an unknown projectile about 50 nautical miles (about 93 kilometers) northwest of Dubai, maritime security companies said.
The shell had damaged the hull of the Marshall Islands-flagged Star Gwyneth, maritime risk management company Vanguard said, adding that the ship’s crew were safe. Owner Star Bulk Carriers said the ship was hit in the hold area while anchored. There were no injuries to the crew or any listing.
The US Navy has rejected almost daily requests from the shipping industry for military escorts through the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the war with Iran, saying the risk of attacks is too high for now, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
