The crude oil tanker, ADALYNN, was en route to Egypt’s Suez Canal when the accident occurred in the Gulf of Oman. NASA FIRMS satellite imagery detected heat signatures in the area early in the morning.
The United Arab Emirates national guard confirmed the deployment of its coast guard’s search and rescue boats to the scene, located 24 nautical miles off the nation’s coast, with the crew evacuated to the port of Khor Fakkan.
British maritime security firm Ambrey previously indicated that the incident was not linked to security concerns, as the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran, separated by the Strait of Hormuz from neighboring Oman, continued to escalate.
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The strait serves as a strategic maritime passage to the Persian Gulf and facilitates approximately a fifth of the world’s oil trade, according to the US Energy Information Administration. In 2024, an estimated 20 million barrels of oil passed through the strait daily.
Following Israeli airstrikes against Iran on June 13, concerns grew regarding the potential for the Islamic Republic to obstruct the waterway.
Maritime experts noted that shipowners are becoming increasingly cautious about navigating the strait, with some vessels enhancing security measures and others canceling routes. As the Israel-Iran hostilities intensified over the weekend, numerous ships in the strait experienced intermittent navigation signals and relied more heavily on radar, though the exact cause of the June 17 incident remained unclear.
The Financial Times reported on Friday (June 13) that Frontline, the world’s largest publicly listed oil tanker company, would decline new contracts to operate in the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz in light of the Israel-Iran conflict.
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Meanwhile, oil prices continued to rise as US futures dropped on the morning of June 17 after Israel’s military issued an evacuation notice to 330,000 people in Iran’s capital, Tehran.
June 17’s rescue operation occurred less than two weeks after the UAE national guard airlifted an injured man from an oil tanker to a hospital in the Emirati region.
