UAE evacuates 24 from oil tanker after collision near Strait of Hormuz
UAE evacuates 24 from oil tanker after collision near Strait of Hormuz
– The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Coast Guard said on June 17 that it had evacuated 24 people from oil tanker Adalynn following a collision between two ships in the Gulf of Oman, near the Strait of Hormuz.
British maritime security firm Ambrey earlier reported an incident 22 nautical miles east of Khor Fakkan in the UAE and said the cause of the incident was not security-related.
Shipping sources told Reuters that a vessel had collided with two other ships.
The maritime incident unfolded as Iran and Israel exchanged attacks for a fifth day following Israel's launch of wide-scale strikes on June 13 , which Israel said were aimed at preventing Tehran from building an atomic weapon.
Naval sources have told Reuters that electronic interference with commercial ship navigation systems has surged in recent days around the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Gulf, which is having an impact on vessels sailing through the region.
The Strait of Hormuz lies between Oman and Iran and links the Gulf north of it with the Gulf of Oman to the south and the Arabian Sea beyond.
About a fifth of the world's total oil consumption passes through the strait.
Between the start of 2022 and May, roughly 17.8 million to 20.8 million barrels of crude, condensate and fuels flowed through the strait daily, according to data from Vortexa.
The UAE National Guard said in a post on social media platform X that 24 crew members were taken to Khor Fakkan Port in the UAE using search and rescue boats.
There was no immediate response to a Reuters request for comment from the Emirati Foreign Ministry or Khor Fakkan container terminal early on June 17 . REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CNA
15 hours ago
- CNA
Japan, US, Philippines simulate crisis in joint coast guard drills amid China tensions
KAGOSHIMA, Japan: Helicopters buzzed in the shadow of a smouldering volcano and boats rescued dummies from the sea this week in a show of maritime unity by Japan, the United States and the Philippines. The joint coast guard exercises held off Japan's southwest shore follow a warning from the three countries about Chinese activity in disputed regional waters. Tensions between China and other claimants to parts of the East and South China Seas have pushed Japan to deepen ties with the Philippines and the United States. This week marked the second time the countries' coast guards have held training drills together, and the first in Japan. They took place over five days off the coast of Kagoshima, where Sakurajima volcano dominates the skyline, quietly puffing out smoke and ash. Dozens of personnel took part, with Friday's (Jun 20) final exercises featuring one vessel from each of the three countries' coast guards. They included the BRP Teresa Magbanua, which was provided to the Philippines by Japan through a loan agreement. The 2,265-tonne vessel, named after a schoolteacher and revolutionary, usually monitors Chinese boats in the South China Sea. China and the Philippines have engaged in months of confrontations in the contested waters, which Beijing claims almost entirely, despite an international ruling that the assertion has no legal basis. Chinese and Japanese patrol vessels in the East China Sea also routinely face off around disputed islands. On Friday, Manila accused China of using a water cannon on two of its fisheries department boats as they attempted to resupply Philippine fishermen near the disputed Scarborough Shoal. The US Coast Guard was represented in the exercises by the cutter Stratton, which can carry up to 170 personnel, and Japan by the 6,000-tonne Asanagi. Friday's drills began with a simulation of a person falling overboard. Once the dummy, wearing a bright red lifejacket, was in the water, a US drone was launched from the Stratton, circling high above as it scanned the area. A small Philippine rescue boat then emerged from the Teresa Magbanua, zipping across the water before coast guard personnel fished the dummy out of the water. Other rescue scenarios enacted included a Japanese helicopter racing from shore to pull a human subject from the sea. The helicopter's rotor blades whipped up the calm blue waters, where the occasional small hammerhead shark could be seen idly swimming alongside the Asanagi. The exercises concluded with a simulated collision and fire, with all three coast guards blasting the stricken vessel with their water cannon. "STRENGTHENED COORDINATION AND COOPERATION" Japan Coast Guard official Naofumi Tsumura said the joint exercises had "built mutual understanding and trust". "More than anything, we have strengthened coordination and cooperation between us," he said. In 2024, the three countries issued a joint statement that included strong language aimed at Beijing. "We express our serious concerns about the People's Republic of China's (PRC) dangerous and aggressive behaviour in the South China Sea," it said, describing "dangerous and coercive use of Coast Guard and maritime militia vessels". They also expressed "strong opposition to any attempts by the PRC to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion in the East China Sea". This week's joint exercises were the first since the statement was released. Tsumura said there were small details that could have worked better and vowed to improve in future collaborations. He said the three countries' coast guards had "come to understand each other better, or as the Japanese often say, to know each other by face".

Straits Times
a day ago
- Straits Times
Why divorcing spouses cannot stake claim on in-laws' homes
Couples who use their parents' properties as their matrimonial homes cannot stake claims over such assets simply because they are not the owners PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: PIXABAY Couples who use a parents' property as their matrimonial homes cannot stake claims over it because they are self-evidently not the owners. The rationale is the same as setting up a matrimonial home in a rented house – the fact that a married couple stayed there does not affect the landlord's rights over his or her real estate. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

Straits Times
a day ago
- Straits Times
Gaza faces a man-made drought as water systems collapse, Unicef says
Unicef said just 40 per cent of drinking water production facilities in Gaza remain functional. PHOTO: REUTERS GENEVA - Gaza is facing a man-made drought as its water systems collapse, the United Nations' children agency said on June 20. "Children will begin to die of thirst... Just 40 per cent of drinking water production facilities remain functional," Unicef spokesman James Elder told reporters in Geneva. "We are way below emergency standards in terms of drinking water for people in Gaza," he added. Unicef also reported a 50 per cent increase in children aged six months to 5 years admitted for treatment of malnutrition from April to May in Gaza, and half a million people going hungry. It said the US-backed aid distribution system run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) was "making a desperate situation worse." On June 20, at least 25 people awaiting aid trucks or seeking aid were killed by Israeli fire south of Netzarim in central Gaza Strip, according to local health authorities. On June 19, at least 51 people were killed by Israeli gunfire and military strikes, including 12 people who tried to approach a site operated by the GHF in the central Gaza Strip. Mr Elder, who was recently in Gaza, said he had many testimonials of women and children injured while trying to receive food aid, including a young boy who was wounded by a tank shell and later died of his injuries. He said a lack of public clarity on when the sites, some of which are in combat zones, were open was causing mass casualty events. "There have been instances where information (was) shared that a site is open, but then it's communicated on social media that they're closed, but that information was shared when Gaza's internet was down and people had no access to it," he said. On June 18, the GHF said in a statement it had distributed three million meals across three of its aid sites without an incident. On June 20, at least 12 people were killed in an airstrike on a house belonging to the Ayyash family in Deir Al-Balah, taking the day's death toll to 37. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.