Iran attacked two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman

6 July, 2023 The Iranian warship that attacked the tanker Richmond Voyager on July 5, 2023. Ships of the Iranian Navy attempted to seize two oil tankers and fired at one of them in an attempt to stop it. The U.S.

Naval Forces Central Command reported on this. At 1 a.m. local time, one Iranian naval vessel approached the oil tanker TRF Moss in international waters in the Gulf of Oman. The Iranian vessel departed the scene when U.S.

Navy guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul (DDG 74) arrived at the station. To counter the Iranian navy, the US Navy has deployed surveillance assets, including MQ-9 Reaper and P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. Approximately three hours later, the U.S.

Navy received a distress call from oil tanker Richmond Voyager while the ship was more than 20 miles (32 km) off the coast of Muscat, Oman. The Iranian ship started chasing the Richmond Voyager within a mile radius, hailing the commercial tanker to stop. The USS McFaul directed course toward Richmond Voyager at maximum speed as the merchant tanker continued its transit.

Prior to the US ship's arrival on the scene, Iranian personnel fired multiple, long bursts from both small arms and crew-served weapons at the tanker. Richmond Voyager sustained no casualties or significant damage. However, several rounds hit the ship's hull near the crew living spaces.

Damage to the Richmond Voyager tanker by fire from an Iranian warship, July 5, 2023.

The ship of the Iranian Navy immediately retreated upon the arrival of the USS McFaul.

Since 2019, a series of Iranian attacks on merchant ships have been recorded.

In April of this year, a unit of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman.

Such incidents threaten global economic security because currently, about a fifth of all global supplies of marine crude oil and petroleum products pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Gulf of Oman to the Persian Gulf.