A tanker leaving the Strait of Hormuz was hit by an unidentified projectile on Wednesday, starting a fire in its engine room. The crew were evacuated, Reuters reports, citing UKMTO. The strike happened about 14 nautical miles north-west of Ras Al-Khaimah. Firefighting was under way.
Separately, UKMTO said on Thursday that it had received confirmation that a tanker was hit by an unidentified projectile while transiting Hormuz, Anadolu Agency reports. It has reclassified that incident as an 'attack'. "All crew are reported safe and well," UKMTO said. The extent of the damage is not known.
Neither report names the ship or says who carried out the strike. It is not clear whether the two reports describe one vessel or two. It is also unclear whether either refers to the Saudi-flagged NCC Fajr, the tanker named in Wednesday's earlier UKMTO incident.
Anadolu notes that UKMTO's report followed a claim by Iran's army, carried by IRIB, that two tankers caught fire after striking mines east of the strait. That claim has not been independently verified.