Strait of Hormuz: IRGC reports second supertanker explosion, with no independent confirmation

For the second time in a day, the IRGC Navy claimed on Saturday, 17 October, that a giant tanker in the Strait of Hormuz had hit a mine, exploded and caught fire. The claim came a few hours after the IRGC's first claim, about a supertanker carrying more than two million barrels of oil, which was covered in DIAR's earlier report.

According to the IRGC, each of the two tankers was carrying about two million barrels of crude oil, and both were passing along a route that the Islamic Republic calls "unauthorised". The IRGC claims that the second tanker had switched off its tracking systems "at the instigation of the American military" and stopped moving after the explosion. The IRGC has named neither the ships, nor their flag, owner, crew or the extent of the damage; no independent source, shipping company or international maritime body has so far confirmed that the two incidents took place.

The IRGC's claims and CENTCOM's response

US Central Command (CENTCOM) has not specifically responded to the two claims so far, but had earlier called several similar IRGC claims false. Last week CENTCOM rejected the IRGC's claim about the container ship "JFS Pride" hitting a mine, saying the ship sank while being towed to shore. Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM's commander, said on Friday that 400 commercial ships had passed through the strait in a week and that the strait is under the control of the United States and its regional partners, not the Islamic Republic; he called the IRGC's attacks a sign of "desperation". A CENTCOM spokesman also said on Saturday that 97 percent of ships had passed through the strait safely.

Ali Azmaei, commander of the IRGC Navy, had warned this week that any ship that switches off its navigation systems will be considered "hostile". The Islamic Republic's army had also reported on Thursday and Friday that two other tankers had caught fire in the Gulf of Oman.

Effect on oil flows and reactions

According to data from the commodity-tracking firm Kpler, about 20.8 million barrels of oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz on 8 October, but the figure fell to about 2.9 million barrels on 11 October. The UK Maritime Trade Operations and maritime monitoring bodies have reported that last week six ships were targeted in a single day in or near the strait, the highest number in a day since the start of the war.

On a visit to Baghdad on Saturday, Turkey's foreign minister called for freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and the protection of international trade. Turkey is a major energy importer.

Background

Since last February, after the start of the US and Israeli war with the Islamic Republic, the IRGC has made the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz conditional on its permission, and the United States, in response, is enforcing a naval blockade of the Islamic Republic's oil exports. On Saturday the IRGC declared the strait "closed", while CENTCOM says the main lanes of the strait are open.

The IRGC reported the explosion of two supertankers in the Strait of Hormuz in a single day, but did not name either of the ships.