Supertanker Burns Off the UAE Coast, and Iran and Shipping Sources Tell Different Stories

A fully laden crude supertanker caught fire off the United Arab Emirates, and the UAE National Guard says it rescued all 22 crew. The vessel is GEM No. 2, a Panama-flagged tanker whose owner is reported to be Taiwan-based and which, according to the news account @visegrad24, was carrying Saudi oil. India’s consulate in Dubai says all the crew are safe.

The version of events depends on who you ask. Britain’s maritime agency UKMTO, citing multiple sources, said a vessel was hit by an unknown projectile about 13 nautical miles west of Al Jazeera, UAE, at 10:00 GMT on Friday 9 October, and that the fire was later put out. Ship-tracking data showed the tanker at anchor off the UAE coast.

Iran says: a mine

On Saturday Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said a supertanker had struck a naval mine and exploded while trying to leave the Strait of Hormuz by an unauthorised southern route, with its navigation systems switched off. Its statement carried a warning:

“The fate of every vessel that ignores the rules in the Strait of Hormuz is a horrific fire.”

— Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), via Anadolu

That account does not match the maritime reports of a ship hit at anchor, and Anadolu, which carried the Iranian statement, noted that there was no immediate information on the vessel’s identity or casualties. The UAE has not said who was behind the fire. Reports on the exact day and cause differ, so the cause is unconfirmed.

The incident comes in a tense week. Earlier in the week another tanker was struck off Qatar inside the Gulf, and maritime security sources say attacks have become more frequent after Iran warned it would block routes it has not authorised. Iran says it closed the Strait of Hormuz again on 12 July after the US resumed attacks on 8 July, and talks over navigation through the waterway remain deadlocked.

For shipping, the key point is that this strike was outside the Hormuz area itself, which security sources say indicates a widening of risk for ships.