The Foreign Office has said all 25 crew members on board Al Maida, a Qatari LNG carrier struck last week, remained safe in the incident.

FO Spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan, responding to a query, said Pakistanis were among the crew of the vessel, which was hit while “transiting eastbound through the Persian Gulf in international waters”.

“The incident caused a small fire on board, but all crew members remained unharmed,” he said, adding that the vessel returned to Qatar.

“The concerned Pakistani authorities are coordinating with the relevant parties to establish further details of the incident,” he added, noting that although the incident had caused a small fire on the tanker, no one was harmed.