Three Oil Tankers Hit Mines in Strait of Hormuz as Iran Tightens Wartime Transit Rules
Updated
Updated · CBS New York · Nov 14
Three Oil Tankers Hit Mines in Strait of Hormuz as Iran Tightens Wartime Transit Rules
3 articles · Updated · CBS New York · Nov 14
Summary
Three oil tankers caught fire overnight after striking mines in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iran's Revolutionary Guards and navy; one vessel was described as a supertanker.
Iran said the ships were using unauthorized routes with radar and tracking systems switched off, violating Tehran's wartime requirement that vessels obtain permission to cross the strait.
The incidents could not be independently verified, and Iranian authorities did not identify the ships or their nationalities.
The reported strikes add to repeated mine and fire incidents in Hormuz even as the U.S. says main shipping lanes have been cleared and continues backing tanker traffic through the waterway.
The disruption is widening beyond oil: a U.N. official said fertilizer prices have risen 30% since the blockades and urged Iran and the U.S. to allow five fertilizer vessels a day through the strait.