tanker projectile

Cairo (dpa) — An unidentified projectile hit a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, the UK Maritime Safety and Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre reported on Monday.

The impact caused a fire, but there were no injuries, said the British authority, which provides 24/7 monitoring and alerts to threats and emergencies on global shipping routes.

The UKMTO located the incident as 8 nautical miles (14 kilometres) east of Oman’s Limah and issued an advisory to ships to transit with caution.

Following the start of the US-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28, Tehran largely blocked the vital transport corridor through threats and attacks in early March.

The US responded with its own naval blockade of ships entering or leaving Iranian ports. Iran and the US agreed last month to a temporary end to hostilities and the lifting of blockades. However, shipping traffic through the strait remains limited.