Oil tanker carrying 27 Indian seafarers struck by limpet mines in Hormuz, engine catches fire

A tanker carrying 27 Indian seafarers was struck by limpet mines in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday (Oct 30). The engine room of the Panama-flagged MT LOUISE 1 crude oil tanker caught fire, temporarily disabling the vessel after it was struck by the mines. All Indian crew members aboard the tanker were “completely safe with no injuries”, Union shipping minister Sarbananda Sonowal said in a post on X.

Though, it was not immediately clear who was behind the attack, four tankers struck mines in the Strait of Hormuz for navigating in the illegal shipping lanes promoted by the US. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said three tankers caught fire after striking mines along what it called an “unauthorised southern route” near the Omani coast. UKMTO reported that an outbound vessel was “on fire” about 25 nautical miles northeast of Khasab. It comes a day after the US military claimed that it had cleared key routes in the Strait of Hormuz.

The initial three vessels had "switched off all their radar and navigation systems" and disregarded warnings from the IRGC navy, the statement said. The IRGC also said that the unauthorised route through the Strait of Hormuz is mined, and that "vessel owners and crews are responsible for transiting these routes and should not pay attention to Centcom's delusions on social media".

There was no environmental impact from the incident and the tanker continued its voyage after the fire was extinguished successfully by the crew and vessel’s operations restored.

What are limpet mines

Limpet mines are explosive devices that can be attached directly to the hull of a ship. It is for the first time that limpet mines were used in the Strait of Hormuz against a vessel after the standoff began in February this year.

The mines were first deployed in the region in 2017 and were subsequently used in attacks on tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz.