On Tuesday, June 17, two oil tankers collided in the Gulf of Oman and caught fire, with the incident potentially linked to military actions by Iran and Israel disrupting the navigation systems in the Middle East region. There were no reports of casualties or oil spills.
The UAE Coast Guard reported that 24 people had been evacuated from the two ships involved, namely the “Front Eagle” flying the Liberian flag and the “Adalynn” flying the flag of Antigua and Barbuda.
One of the tankers involved is owned by Frontline, a company based in Oslo. A spokesperson for the company stated that the accident occurred early in the day about 17 nautical miles east of the Strait of Hormuz, near the port of Fujairah in the UAE. The company attributed the collision to navigation issues rather than an airstrike.
The UK Maritime Operations Center, responsible for monitoring ship threats and incidents in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, had warned on Monday that the navigation systems of vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden were being disrupted due to military actions by Israel and Iran in the region.
Since last Friday, Iran and Israel have been exchanging missile launches, escalating tensions in the region. Although the current conflict has not yet directly impacted the global shipping industry, the navigation systems near the crucial waterway carrying about one-fifth of the world’s oil shipments between Iran and Oman have evidently been disrupted.
Research institution Kpler reported to its clients that the navigation systems of several crude oil tankers had experienced electronic interference. The Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), led by the United States, issued a notification this week stating that they have received reports of electronic interference from areas near the Iranian port of Abbas in the Gulf region and other regions north of the Strait of Hormuz.
Moreover, Iran warned on Saturday that if Western countries apply pressure, Iran would consider closing the Strait of Hormuz as retaliation.