Merchant vessel catches fire after attack near Strait of Hormuz

London: A merchant vessel caught fire after being struck near the eastern entrance of the Strait of Hormuz, according to ship-to-ship radio communications on Friday evening, London Time.

The recording, obtained exclusively by Xinhua from a seafarer, transmitted over an open maritime radio channel, showed crew members battling a fire and urgently requesting assistance.

According to the communications, the vessel was near the Omani coast when it was struck, sparking a fire in the engine room.

The crew had activated the ship’s onboard carbon dioxide fire suppression system and attempted to control the blaze through ballast operations. Firefighting efforts were complicated by a failure of the ship’s hydraulic system, the recording indicated, reports Xinhua news agency.

In another segment of the communications, several nearby vessels said they were heading toward the scene to provide assistance.

The waters around the Strait of Hormuz have witnessed multiple attacks on vessels in recent days, with many of the incidents occurring along shipping routes near the Omani side of the strait.

Earlier in July, a commercial vessel caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz off Oman’s coast, prompting a warning from British maritime authorities as heightened US-Iran tensions continued to disrupt shipping through the strategic waterway.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it received a report of an incident roughly 8 nautical miles northwest of Kumzar, Oman. Military authorities told UKMTO that a vessel was on fire, although the cause of the blaze remained unclear.

Commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has largely ground to a halt amid the US-Iran fighting, with growing concerns over the safety of vessels navigating the strategic waterway.

The US military earlier urged ships to use routes closer to Oman’s coastline when transiting the strait. Iran, however, has attacked vessels traveling along those routes, asserting that it should have control over navigation through the waterway.

IANS