Iran says explosions disable two Hormuz oil supertankers

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said on Thursday that two supertankers carrying more than four million barrels of oil had been disabled by explosions and left burning in the Strait of Hormuz overnight.
The force said the vessels entered a southern passage it considers unauthorised despite repeated warnings from its Strait of Hormuz Traffic Control Centre. It described the route as unsafe and said powerful explosions brought both ships to a halt on Wednesday night.
Iranian state television subsequently said the tankers had struck naval mines and broadcast footage purportedly showing the incidents. The cause of the explosions, the identities of the ships and the condition of their crews could not be independently established. No independently confirmed assessment of the cargo damage or any oil spill was immediately available.
The IRGC Navy did not identify the vessels’ owners, operators, flags or destinations in its statement. Its assertion that the ships were carrying more than four million barrels combined could not be checked against named vessel records. The claim nevertheless raised immediate questions about maritime safety in a waterway already affected by months of military confrontation.
The force accused the ships of disregarding its traffic instructions and linked their passage to the United States military. It warned that vessels switching off navigation systems and cooperating with American forces to use the southern route would face similar consequences. Those allegations were not accompanied by independently verifiable evidence identifying the tankers or establishing military involvement.
The warning also left unresolved whether either ship had received instructions directly, what course each vessel followed and whether civilian maritime authorities had been notified before the explosions. Without vessel names or precise positions, the reported incidents could not readily be matched to commercial tracking information.
The Strait of Hormuz connects the Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and provides a vital outlet for oil exports from Gulf producers. An incident involving two fully laden supertankers would expose ships, crews and nearby waters to substantial risks, although the reported cargo volume alone does not establish how much oil, if any, escaped into the sea.
The latest Iranian account comes during the conflict involving Iran, the United States and Israel, which began in February and has repeatedly disrupted maritime traffic. Commercial operators have faced warnings, attacks and uncertainty over passage through the strait, while competing military claims have complicated independent assessments of individual incidents.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have previously announced strikes against tankers and subsequently described vessels catching fire after encountering mines in the southern part of the waterway. Those statements have not always been accompanied by enough identifying information to permit independent confirmation of the ships involved or the reported circumstances.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency has separately documented attacks and explosions affecting commercial vessels in the area. Its accounts of some incidents have referred to unidentified projectiles, underscoring the difficulty of determining responsibility from initial reports alone.
A Joint Maritime Information Centre advisory covering incidents through 8 November maintained a severe regional maritime threat assessment. The advisory documented a tanker explosion reported on 5 November about 16 nautical miles east of Khasab, Oman. The vessel’s crew was reported safe and the tanker continued its voyage, according to the maritime security information.
That earlier case was separate from Thursday’s Iranian announcement and does not verify the latest claims. It nevertheless illustrates the operational hazards confronting commercial crews navigating waters where reports of explosions, possible mines and military activity have become part of voyage planning.
The IRGC statement specifically described the southern route as prohibited and portrayed compliance with its traffic directions as a safety requirement. It did not provide a published chart of the alleged prohibited passage or explain how its restrictions related to internationally recognised navigation arrangements.
The scale of the cargo cited by the Guards suggests very large crude carriers, but the statement did not specify whether both were loaded to capacity. It also gave no details of the type or number of explosions involved.
The status of the two tankers remained uncertain following the announcement. There was no independently verified information in the accounts available about rescue operations, firefighting assistance, casualties or the extent of structural damage aboard either vessel.