Oman rescues 25 from burning oil tanker in Strait of Hormuz

Incident comes as Iran says three oil tankers were halted while attempting to use ‘unauthorised routes’ to cross Hormuz.

Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, October 23, 2026 [Stringer/Reuters]

Oman has rescued 25 crew members from a burning crude oil tanker as ships continue to be targeted in the Strait of Hormuz .

The Omani Maritime Security Centre said in a statement on Friday that it had evacuated the people aboard the RITI merchant ship. Oman said the vessel was flying the Panamanian flag, while the tracking website MarineTraffic identified it as a crude oil tanker.

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The incident came as Iran said three oil tankers had been halted while attempting to use “unauthorised routes” to cross the Strait of Hormuz.

It is unclear whether one of the vessels was the tanker whose crew were evacuated by Omani maritime authorities.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said all three vessels were carrying oil and that one was a supertanker. It added that the ships had been halted following “incidents” or after hitting mines.

“Two offending oil tankers, one in the eastern part and the other in the western part of the Strait of Hormuz, which were attempting to pass through the unauthorised route, encountered incidents and were brought to a halt in the waters south of the strait,” the IRGC said in a statement.

Later, in a separate statement, the IRGC said a third tanker – a supertanker carrying more than two million barrels of oil – “exploded and caught fire today as a result of attempting to pass through an unauthorised route”.

Meanwhile, to the east of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s navy said it struck and destroyed an unmanned enemy craft on Friday.

Iran has repeatedly warned vessels against passing through the strait without Tehran’s permission.

It has claimed responsibility for attacks on ships and said last month that vessels attempting to pass through the strait without authorisation would face “destruction”.

Tehran has asserted control over much of the waterway since the US and Israel launched the war on February 28.

The US military denies the naval mine claims. On Friday, United States Central Command chief Brad Cooper said the Strait of Hormuz’s “internationally recognised primary transit routes” had been successfully cleared of Iranian sea mines.

事件发生之际，伊朗方面称，三艘油轮在试图使用“未经授权的路线”穿越霍尔木兹海峡时被拦截。

2026 年 10 月 23 日从阿曼穆桑达姆看到的霍尔木兹海峡的船只 [Stringer/Reuters]

阿曼从一艘燃烧的原油油轮中救出了 25 名船员，与此同时，霍尔木兹海峡的船只继续成为袭击目标。

阿曼海事安全中心周五发表声明称，已疏散了“RITI”号商船上的所有人员。阿曼方面表示，该船悬挂巴拿马国旗，而船舶追踪网站MarineTraffic则将其识别为一艘原油油轮。

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事件发生之际，伊朗方面表示，三艘油轮在试图使用“未经授权的路线”穿越霍尔木兹海峡时被拦截。

目前尚不清楚其中一艘船是否是阿曼海事当局撤离船员的那艘油轮。

伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队（IRGC）表示，这三艘船都载有石油，其中一艘是超级油轮。声明还补充说，这些船只因“事故”或触雷而停航。

伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队在一份声明中表示：“两艘违规油轮，一艘位于霍尔木兹海峡东部，另一艘位于西部，试图通过未经授权的航线，结果发生事故，并在海峡南部水域被拦截。”

随后，伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队在另一份声明中表示，第三艘油轮——一艘载有超过200万桶石油的超级油轮——“今天因试图通过未经授权的航线而爆炸起火”。

与此同时，在霍尔木兹海峡以东，伊朗海军称，周五击沉并摧毁了一艘敌方无人艇。

伊朗多次警告船只未经德黑兰许可不得通过该海峡。

它声称对袭击船只事件负责，并于上个月表示，未经授权试图通过海峡的船只将面临“摧毁”。

自美国和以色列于2月28日发动战争以来，德黑兰已经控制了该水道的大部分区域。

美国军方否认了有关水雷的说法。周五，美国中央司令部司令布拉德·库珀表示，霍尔木兹海峡“国际公认的主要航道”已成功清除伊朗水雷。