DUBAI: Twenty-four crew have been rescued after two oil tankers collided off the UAE, sparking at least one fire, the United Arab Emirates coastguard and a shipping company said on Tuesday.

British maritime security monitor Ambrey said the incident, which took place at a time of high tensions as an air war rages between nearby Iran and Israel, was “not security-related”.

Shipping company Frontline said a fire was extinguished on its Front Eagle tanker after the collision with Adalynn, another oil transporter, 15 nautical miles off the UAE’s Gulf of Oman coast. “We are (also) aware of reports of a fire onboard the Adalynn following the collision,” a Frontline statement said, adding: “There have been no reports of pollution at this time.”

The UAE coastguard carried out “an evacuation mission involving 24 crew members of the oil tanker ADALYNN, following a collision between two ships in the Gulf of Oman”, the UAE National Guard posted on X.

The incident took place close to the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a waterway between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran that carries one-fifth of global oil output.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2025