Third oil tanker strikes naval mine in Strait of Hormuz, catches fire
Iran's Revolutionary Guards say a third oil tanker in under 48 hours has struck a naval mine south of the Strait of Hormuz, triggering an explosion and fire in its engine room.
A third oil tanker in less than 48 hours has struck a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said early on Monday, reporting an explosion and fire in the vessel’s engine room.
The IRGC Navy said the tanker hit the mine south of the strait while attempting to leave the waterway, according to IRNA. The Guards said it had used the strait’s “unauthorized southern route” and switched off all positioning and navigation systems from the start of its voyage, Anadolu Agency reported.
The statement did not identify the tanker and gave no casualty or damage figures, NDTV reported. The IRGC Navy warned vessels operating with navigation and identification systems switched off would face a “firm response”; naval commander Admiral Ali Ozmaei warned this week that such ships would be considered “hostile”, the Economic Times reported.
The incident follows two more at the weekend: on Sunday the Guards said two tankers had caught fire in the strait after hitting mines — a supertanker carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude on Saturday and another on Friday, Free Malaysia Today and Nukta reported.
The strikes come amid the US-Israel-Iran war that began on 28 February 2026. Tehran asserts control over the strait, through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil passes, while Washington enforces a naval counter-blockade on Iranian oil exports. A June memorandum of understanding between the two countries on freedom of navigation in the strait has stalled over security disagreements, Anadolu Agency reported.
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