Huge fire rips through vessel in the Persian Gulf as British naval officials warn ships in the area to ‘exercise extreme caution’
- Unverified footage shows thick black smoke coming from a ship in Sharjah, UAE
- Vessel in the Persian Gulf caught fire near the Emirati sheikhdom this evening
- Blaze prompted warning from British naval officials to ‘exercise extreme caution’
A vessel in the Persian Gulf caught fire today, prompting a warning from British naval officials to ‘exercise extreme caution’.
Video footage reportedly taken near the scene in the UAE, showed thick black smoke coming from a tanker, although this has not been independently verified.
The United Kingdom’s Maritime Trade Operations said the huge fire struck a ship northwest of Sharjah, an Emirati sheikhdom. It offered no other information about the vessel.
A spokesman for the US Navy Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain, which has been patrolling the Persian Gulf, said they are aware of the incident in Sharjah and are monitoring the situation.
Officials with the US military similarly said they knew of the fire, but had no further information.
Video footage purportedly showing a tanker on fire off the coast of Sharjah in the UAE
The cause of the inferno or if anyone was injured on board the tanker is no yet known.
It is unclear how many crew members were on board at the time but the vessel was manned and had been ‘in the region for about a month’, a representative from the UK Maritime Trade Operations added.
He told The National: ‘The UAE’s coast guard has been assisting those on board.’
Ships in the area were initially alerted through a separate advisory, which said an oil tanker was on fire.
‘This Advisory is not classified as a Maritime Security Event and has not been verified by UKMTO’, the email with the report said.
The United Arab Emirates did not immediately acknowledge the fire and officials did not respond to requests for comment.
The blaze comes amid heightened tensions in the region after the US killed Iranian Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad and Iran fired ballistic missiles at Iraqi bases housing US troops.
The US blames Iran for planting mines that exploded against tankers last year near the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20 per cent of all oil passes.
Iran denied being involved, though it did seize oil tankers and shoot down a US military surveillance drone.
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