Crew member killed after projectile hits tanker off Oman, manager says
V.Ships Asia said that the crew member was killed in the engine room of the tanker. At least three ships are known to have been attacked in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday.
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LONDON: A projectile hit the Marshall Islands–flagged product tanker MKD VYOM killing a crew member on board as the vessel sailed off the coast of Oman, manager V.Ships said on Sunday (Mar 1).
"The vessel suffered an explosion and subsequent fire after being struck by a suspected projectile while off the coast of Muscat, Oman, on 1 March," V.Ships Asia said in a statement.
"It is with great sadness that we confirm one crew member, who was in the engine room at the time of the incident, has died."
At least three ships are known to have been attacked in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, maritime security agencies said, as Iran pressed a second day of strikes in response to ongoing US-Israeli air raids.
One ship, off the coast of Oman, was "struck by an unknown projectile above the waterline. Although the engine room was originally reported as on fire, it has now been reported that the fire is under control," the British maritime security agency UKMTO said in a statement.
In a separate incident, another vessel was "struck by an unknown projectile, causing a fire. The fire has been extinguished, and the vessel intends to continue on its voyage," UKMTO said.
The private maritime security company Vanguard Tech indicated that the second vessel, a tanker, was located approximately 17 nautical miles northwest of Mina Saqr in the United Arab Emirates.
UKMTO later reported another projectile "exploded in very close proximity to a vessel" 35 nautical miles west of the Emirati city of Sharjah.
It said all crew were "safe and well".
On Sunday, Iranian state television said an oil tanker was "sinking" after being struck while transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
"The fate of the offending oil tanker that was struck while attempting to illegally pass through the Strait of Hormuz is that it is now sinking," state TV reported, without elaborating.
Images broadcast by the television station showed thick black smoke billowing from the burning tanker.
The strait is a key transit point for the global oil trade, through which a quarter of the world's oil and a fifth of its liquefied natural gas pass.
On Saturday, Iran's Revolutionary Guards closed the shipping lane, warning that it was dangerous due to US and Israeli attacks.
SHIPPING COMPANIES REROUTING
Shipping companies Maersk MAERSKb.CO, Hapag-Lloyd HLAG.DE and CMA CGM are rerouting vessels around Africa, away from the Suez Canal and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
"Due to the deteriorating security situation in the Middle East region following the escalating military conflict, we have decided...to pause future Trans-Suez sailings through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait for the time being," Danish container shipping group Maersk said in a statement on Sunday.
The company last month announced a gradual return of some services to the Suez route, seen as a key step towards ending two years of global trade disruption caused by attacks on ships in the Red Sea by Yemen's Houthi rebels.
"We will continue to monitor the situation closely and take all needed actions," the company said.
"Once the situation stabilises and the security conditions again permit, we will continue to prioritise the Trans-Suez route," Maersk added, commenting on its Middle East-India to Mediterranean and Middle East-India to East Coast US services.
The company later on Sunday said its services in the UAE, Oman and Qatar may also be disrupted.
German shipping group Hapag-Lloyd said in a statement that it is rerouting its IMX container shipping service connecting India and the Middle East with the Mediterranean around southern Africa.
It added that it would prioritise the route again once the security situation permitted transit.
WAR RISK SURCHARGE
Hapag-Lloyd said it would apply a war risk surcharge for cargo to and from the Upper Gulf, the Arabian Gulf and the Persian Gulf from March 2.
CMA CGM also said on Sunday it would apply an emergency conflict surcharge for cargo to and from Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, Yemen, Qatar, Oman, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Djibouti, Sudan and Eritrea as well as the Red Sea Port of Ain Sokhna.
Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd said they were suspending all vessel crossings in the Strait of Hormuz until further notice.
Maersk said it was still accepting cargo to the Middle East.
Mediterranean Shipping Company said on Sunday it was suspending all cargo bookings to the Middle East until further notice. It said it had instructed all vessels in the Gulf region, and those en route to the area, to proceed to safe shelter areas until further notice. Bookings will resume as soon as the security situation improves, it added.
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