The United Arab Emirates (UAE) evacuated 24 crew members from an oil tanker after it collided with another vessel in the Gulf of Oman on Tuesday.
The Emirati National Guard announced in a statement that it “carried out an evacuation mission involving 24 crew members of the oil tanker ADALYNN, following a collision between two ships in the Gulf of Oman.”
It added that “The ship’s crew was evacuated from the incident site, located 24 nautical miles off the country’s coast, to the Port of Khor Fakkan using search and rescue boats.”
The Khor Fakkan port near Sharjah, on the Indian Ocean, is an important transit point for huge oil tankers.
British maritime security firm Ambrey said the cause of an incident, 22 nautical miles east of Khor Fakkan, was not security-related.
Shipping company Frontline said its oil tanker Front Eagle had been involved in a collision and described the event as a navigational incident that was not related to the ongoing regional conflict between Israel and Iran.
“Following the incident immediate action was taken to extinguish a fire on deck of the Front Eagle. We are aware of reports of a fire onboard the Adalynn following the collision,” a Frontline statement said.
The company added that it was “closely monitoring the situation and is cooperating fully with the relevant authorities as emergency response efforts continue.”
According to the US Energy Information Administration, the strait is an important naval entry route into the Persian Gulf, transporting around one-fifth of the world’s oil.
Since the escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran, there has been rising concern that the waterway may be shut.
