Two oil tankers have collided and caught fire near the Strait of Hormuz, where electronic interference has surged during conflict between Iran and Israel, but there were no injuries to crew or spillage reported.

With Iran and Israel firing missiles at each other since last week, interference has disrupted navigation systems near the vital waterway between Iran and Oman which handles about a fifth of the world's seaborne oil.

The United Arab Emirates coast guard said it had evacuated 24 people from one of the ships, Adalynn, to the port of Khor Fakkan after the crash 24 nautical miles off its eastern coast.

Personnel on the second tanker, the Front Eagle, were reported safe with no pollution seen after a fire on its deck, according to its owner, the Oslo-listed company Frontline.

Frontline said the incident would be investigated, but there was no suggestion of outside interference.

The Front Eagle was loaded with 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude oil and was en route to Zhoushan in China, according to monitoring service TankerTrackers.com.

The Adalynn, a Suezmax-class tanker owned by India-based Global Shipping Holding Ltd, had no cargo and was sailing towards the Suez Canal in Egypt, the monitoring service said.

TankerTrackers.com said on X that the Front Eagle was moving southbound at a speed of 13.1 knots when it "executed a starboard (right) turn, resulting in a collision with the port quarter (aft port side)" of the Adalynn, which was proceeding southeast at 4.8 knots.

Strategic strait 

The Strait of Hormuz links the Gulf to the northwest with the Gulf of Oman to the southeast and the Arabian Sea beyond.

Between the start of 2022 and last month, roughly 17.8 million to 20.8 million barrels of crude, condensate and fuels flowed through daily, according to data from Vortexa.

The multinational, US-led Combined Maritime Force's JMIC information centre said in an advisory this week that it had received reports of electronic interference stemming from the vicinity of the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, on the north shore of the strait, and other areas in the Gulf region.

Iran has in the past threatened to close the strait to traffic in retaliation for Western pressure.

Tehran has not commented on the collision or reports of electronic interference. There was no immediate response to a for comment from the Emirati foreign ministry or Khor Fakkan container terminal.

Dozens of tankers have dropped anchor in major port hubs in the Gulf close to the Strait of Hormuz around Fujairah and Khor Fakkan and Sharjah on the Emirati side, ship tracking data on MarineTraffic showed.

Some shipping companies have decided to pause their voyages due to the heightened tensions, while others were awaiting charter hires due to uncertainty, shipping sources said.

While war risk insurance costs for ships heading to Israeli ports have soared in recent days, the costs so far remain stable for voyages through the Gulf, insurance industry sources said.

"Rates, for the time being, remain stable with no noticeable increases since the latest hostilities between Israel and Iran. This position could change dramatically depending on any further escalation or general conflagration in the area," David Smith, head of marine with insurance broker McGill and Partners, said.

The Strait of Hormuz: world's most important oil artery

Below are details about the strait:

The strait 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.

It is 21 miles (33 km) wide at its narrowest point, with the shipping lane just 2 miles (3 km) wide in either direction.

Why does it matter? 

About a fifth of the world's total oil consumption passes through the strait. Between the start of 2022 and last month, roughly 17.8 million to 20.8 million barrels of crude, condensate and fuels flowed through the strait daily, according to data from Vortexa.

OPEC members Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq export most of their crude via the strait, mainly to Asia.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia have sought to find other routes to bypass the strait.

Around 2.6 million bpd of unused capacity from existing UAE and Saudi pipelines could be available to bypass Hormuz, the US Energy Information Administration said in June last year.

Qatar, among the world's biggest liquefied natural gas exporters, sends almost all of its LNG through the strait.

Iran has threatened over the years to block the strait but has never followed through.

The US Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, is tasked with protecting commercial shipping in the area.

History of tensions

In 1973, Arab producers led by Saudi Arabia slapped an oil embargo on Western supporters of Israel in its war with Egypt.

While Western countries were the main buyers of crude produced by the Arab countries at the time, nowadays Asia is the main buyer of OPEC's crude.

The United States more than doubled its oil liquids production in the past two decades and has turned from the world's biggest oil importer into one of the top exporters.

During the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War, the two sides sought to disrupt each other's exports in what was called the Tanker War.

In July 1988, a US warship shot down an Iranian airliner, killing all 290 aboard, in what Washington said was an accident and Tehran said was a deliberate attack.

In January 2012, Iran threatened to block the strait in retaliation for US and European sanctions. In May 2019, four vessels  including two Saudi oil tankers – were attacked off the UAE coast, outside the Strait of Hormuz.

In July 2021, an Israeli-managed oil tanker was attacked off Oman's coast, killing two crew members, with Israel blaming Iran for the incident, which Iran denied.

Three vessels, two in 2023 and one in 2024, were seized by Iran near or in the Strait of Hormuz.

On June 17, 2025, two oil tankers collided and caught fire, near the Strait of Hormuz, where electronic interference has surged during the conflict between Iran and Israel, but there were no injuries to crew or spillage reported.