Two supertankers attempting to navigate an "unauthorized" route south of the Strait of Hormuz struck naval mimes and exploded on Friday, the navy of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said, following a reported security incident in the strategic waterway a day earlier.
The blasts set the vessels' engine rooms on fire, bringing them to a halt, the navy said in a statement published on the IRGC's official news outlet Sepah News.
The tankers were carrying a combined total of more than 4.5 million barrels of crude oil, and their crews abandoned ship following the blasts, according to the IRGC navy.
Earlier in the day, the semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted a source close to the IRGC Navy as saying that traffic by "violating" vessels in the Strait of Hormuz had been "completely stopped" after Iran destroyed navigational aid systems serving such ships and targeted four "offending" tankers in the waterway on Thursday.
"In case oil smuggling (in the strait) is resumed, much more crushing actions will be taken against violating vessels and technical aid systems," the informed official added.
Iran tightened its grip on the strait on Feb. 28, barring safe passage of vessels belonging to or affiliated with Israel and the United States following their joint strikes on Iranian territory.
Adding to the tensions in the waterway, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it received a report of an incident occurring seven nautical miles northeast of Limah, Oman, on Thursday evening, in which an outbound oil tanker reported being struck by an unknown projectile while transiting through the Strait of Hormuz.
Two tankers hit by mines in Strait of Hormuz amid escalating maritime tensions: Iran's IRGC
