DUBAI (The Thursday Times) — A crude oil tanker carrying 22 crew was struck by an unidentified projectile off Ras Al Khaimah on Wednesday, setting its engine room on fire, British maritime agencies said. The UAE Coast Guard evacuated everyone on board, according to India’s shipping minister.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations centre said the vessel was hit about 14 nautical miles northwest of the emirate. Firefighting was under way and all crew had been taken off, it said in a report published on Thursday. The maritime security firm Ambrey said the ship was struck at the stern as it was leaving the Strait of Hormuz, and that no injuries or pollution had been reported.
India’s minister of ports, shipping and waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, named the ship as the Liberia-flagged MT Dominica Prosperity and said it was drifting off Mina Saqr, Ras Al Khaimah’s main deep-water port, when it was targeted. Nineteen of the 22 crew are Indian.
“The entire 22-member crew was swiftly and safely evacuated by the UAE Coast Guard, and all 19 of our Indian nationals are completely safe with no injuries,” Sonowal said in a post on X. He said Indian officials were in touch with the ship’s managers about the crew’s welfare. There was no immediate comment from UAE authorities, and no one has said who fired the projectile.
Three tankers in three days
It is the third tanker with Indian crew to be hit in the region since Tuesday, according to Sonowal’s updates. On Wednesday a Saudi-flagged tanker, the NCC Fajr, with three Indians on board, was involved in a possible attack while passing through the Strait of Hormuz, and all its crew were safe. On Tuesday the Liberia-flagged supertanker Fujairah Energy was hit by a projectile on its way from Ruwais to Dubai, injuring four crew, one of them Indian.
The same day, a vessel operated by ADNOC Logistics & Services was damaged in an attack inside the UAE’s territorial waters, the company said. On Thursday Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said two supertankers had been disabled by explosions on a route through the strait that Tehran has declared off-limits. Neither the Guards nor the maritime agencies linked those two ships to the Dominica Prosperity.
India’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that it was in contact with all sides to prevent attacks on civilian shipping. “We continue to call for safe, free and unimpeded navigation through the Strait of Hormuz,” spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
A strait under pressure
The strait, which carried about a fifth of the world’s oil before the war, has been largely closed since US and Israeli strikes on Iran began on February 28. Iran insists ships use routes it approves, and the United States has imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports.
Last month oil from the struck supertanker Gem No. 2 washed up on the shores of Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah, Ajman, and Umm Al Quwain. Ras Al Khaimah reopened seven of its beaches only this week.
