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Two sailors remain missing after the Panama-flagged oil tanker El Gaia was attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Omani naval forces rescued 23 crew members from the stricken vessel, which caught fire in its engine room following the strike, but the fate of two others is still unknown.
Oman’s Maritime Security Centre confirmed the incident, which occurred roughly 103 nautical miles northeast of Musandam. The tanker, owned by UAE-based El Gaia Shipping Inc., is now being towed to an Omani port as the search for the missing crew continues.
Competing narratives over what happened
The attack itself took place on or around September 13, but the accounts of what actually hit the El Gaia diverge sharply depending on who you ask. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claims the tanker wandered into a restricted area and struck naval mines. US Central Command tells a very different story.
CENTCOM has stated that the vessel was first rendered inoperable by an Iranian missile, then subsequently struck by an Iranian drone. That is not a subtle disagreement over details. It is two fundamentally incompatible versions of events, one describing an accident and the other describing a deliberate, multi-stage attack.
Adding another layer of complexity, the UK Maritime Trade Operations reported a projectile strike on an unidentified vessel in the same area during roughly the same window. Whether that report refers to the El Gaia or a separate incident has not been publicly clarified.
The El Gaia was built in 2005 and carries a deadweight tonnage of approximately 48,000 DWT. Its crew of around 25 included at least 14 Indian nationals, with additional Pakistani sailors aboard.
The Strait of Hormuz: always tense, getting worse
Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply transits this narrow channel between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula every single day. Earlier in 2026, multiple shipping disruptions in and around the strait drew international attention, raising insurance premiums for vessels in the region and prompting some operators to reroute cargo along longer, costlier paths.
The IRGC’s mine narrative, if accurate, would suggest Iran has deployed live ordnance in or near commercial shipping lanes. The CENTCOM account, if accurate, suggests something more aggressive: a targeted strike using both a missile and a drone on a commercial vessel carrying a multinational crew.
What this means for shipping and energy markets
Traders who remember the tanker attacks of 2019, when limpet mines struck two vessels in the Gulf of Oman, know the playbook: a brief price surge, a flurry of diplomatic statements, and then a slow return to baseline unless the situation escalates further.
The 23 rescued sailors are reportedly receiving medical attention for injuries sustained during the fire.
India’s foreign ministry has not yet issued a detailed public statement on the incident, but given that Indian nationals constituted a majority of the crew, diplomatic engagement is all but certain. Previous incidents involving Indian seafarers in the Gulf region have prompted calls for stronger protections and better communication protocols between ship operators and the Indian government.
The El Gaia is expected to arrive at an Omani port in the coming days, where investigators will presumably attempt to determine exactly what struck the vessel. Physical evidence from the engine room fire, the hull, and any recovered munitions fragments could go a long way toward settling the dispute between Tehran and Washington over what happened.
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