Oman tows oil tanker attacked off its coast, two crew missing

Oman said on Tuesday it was searching for two missing crew members who were aboard a tanker targeted in the Strait of Hormuz. The vessel is now being towed to a port in Oman after the attack.

What happened to the oil tanker attacked off Oman?

The Omani Maritime Security Centre said it was overseeing the towing of the Panama-flagged oil tanker ELGAIA after a fire in its engine room was extinguished. The vessel was struck northeast of Musandam, and a Royal Navy of Oman vessel evacuated 23 crew members, who received medical care, while a search continued for the two who remained missing.

Vessels in the strait have come under repeated attack as Tehran seeks to maintain a stranglehold on the waterway in its war with the United States. Washington has kept up a counterblockade of Iranian ports in response.

When was the tanker in the Strait of Hormuz attacked?

Oman did not say when the ship was attacked. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, a marine monitor, said a vessel had caught fire on Saturday after being struck by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz.

British maritime security firm Vanguard Tech also reported that a Panama-flagged tanker had been struck that day, and that the Omani navy was evacuating the crew.