All 21 Filipino crew members were safely evacuated from a burning Japanese-owned tankers Kokuka Courageous by US warship in the Gulf of Oman, while in a separate attack on the same day, all 23 sailors aboard the Norwegian-owned Front Altair were evacuated to Iran safely on Thursday.
The U.S. Navy said it was providing assistance Thursday after two tankers were reportedly attacked in the Gulf of Oman.
The Bahrain-based U.S. Fifth Fleet said it received distress calls from both tankers about an hour apart.
However, Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported Iran's navy rescued 44 crew members from the tankers, and that both vessels were on fire.
The United States point finger to Iran for the attack, escalating tensions in a vital passageway for much of the world's petroleum.
Aerial footage shows one of the oil tankers targeted in the Sea of Oman#SeaofOman pic.twitter.com/mdvEPPT3J4— Press TV (@PressTV) June 13, 2019
Hours after the incident, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that intelligence reviewed by american officials showed that Iran was responsible.
The ship's Singapore-based management company, BSM, said that a sailor had been injured and that the vessel had suffered damage to its hull.
In May, four oil tankers were attacked off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, an incident that the US suspected was the responsibility of Iran.
Tehran denied any involvement in the earlier attacks.
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