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Two crew members missing following suspected US strike on tanker near Oman

Officials from the maritime industry said that two crew members are missing and another is injured after a suspected U.S. missile strike on a fuel tanker near Oman's coast.

Ambrey believes that the 'blockade of Iranian ports by U.S. Ambrey, a British maritime security organization, said that the blockade of Iranian ports was likely to be responsible.

In the past, crews were warned to gather at the bow of the vessel before an attack.

Another maritime security source said that the ship was also likely to have been?hit by a U.S. rocket.

The United Kingdom's Maritime Trade Operations agency reported that a Palau-flagged chemical/oil product tanker reported a?engine room fire? 20 nautical miles northeast from Oman's Port of Sohar.

According to British maritime risk-management group?Vanguard, the Omani Navy responded immediately to the distress call of the Settebello.

According to MarineTraffic, the?tanker? was partially loaded? and last located near Oman's coastline on June 1st.

The operator listed in the databases as being based in India could not be reached to comment.

The United States launched a blockade of Iran related shipping on the 13th of April after Iran severely restricted shipping through Strait of Hormuz - a major global oil & gas route.

U.S. Central Command reported that as of 8 June, U.S. Forces had disabled seven noncompliant?vessels and redirected 134 other vessels which were compliant, while allowing 42 vessels to pass supporting humanitarian aid.

The U.S. military reported that U.S. forces disabled an unladen Marivex tanker on Monday in the Gulf of Oman after it tried to sail to an Iranian port, in violation of a 'ongoing blockade of Iran.

The ships being targeted are Iranian vessels and so-called'shadow fleet tankers', which are 'older vessels with no Western insurance, used to transport sanctioned crude oil, and sailing under various flags in order to conceal their true ownership, the cargo they carry, and whereabouts. Reporting by Jonathan Saul, Ahmed Elimam and Alex Richardson; editing by Jason Neely and Alex Richardson

(source: Reuters)