A Panama-flagged crude oil tanker carrying 27 Indian seafarers was hit by limpet mines in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, causing a fire onboard. Union Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said all Indian crew members aboard MT Louise 1 were “completely safe with no injuries”.

The incident took place 25 nautical miles (46 km) northeast of Oman's Khasab, according to the British navy agency United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO). The identity of those behind the attack remains unclear.

Meanwhile, Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy said on Friday that four oil tankers caught fire and exploded in the Strait of Hormuz while attempting to use what it described as unauthorised routes, Reuters reported. The IRGC claimed that one of the tankers, carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil, struck a naval mine.

The incident comes amid repeated attacks on commercial vessels in and around the Strait of Hormuz, a major route for global energy trade. The West Asia conflict began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February this year. Tehran retaliated by targeting US interests and military bases across Gulf countries, effectively blocking navigation through the strait.

Iran has since targeted vessels it says violated its restrictions on passage through the waterway. The move aims to pressure Washington. Meanwhile, the US Central Command has struck and disabled Iranian and Iran-linked tankers in the region following the American naval blockade on Tehran.

In his post on X, Sonowal also said that a Liberia-flagged tanker, VLCC MT Arzanah, was hit by a projectile. The vessel was carrying two Indian nationals, both of whom were reported safe.

According to three maritime sources cited by Reuters, a small boat attached two limpet mines to MT Louise 1's hull. The explosives triggered a fire and temporarily disabled the tanker.

This marks the first reported successful use of such explosives in the waterway since the US-Iran conflict began. Two maritime sources also told Reuters that a separate attempt to use similar devices in September failed to detonate.

The Louise 1 was previously targeted by Ukrainian naval drones in the Black Sea in July. Ukraine's SBU security service said the vessel was attacked over its alleged role in transporting Russian oil as part of Moscow's so-called shadow fleet.

Limpet mines are naval explosives attached directly to a ship's hull using powerful magnets or clamps. British special forces first developed them for sabotage operations during World War II. Greece-based maritime risk management group Marisks said they were first deployed in West Asia in 2017 and later used against tankers in Hormuz. The group described them as “cheap and easily available”.

“The methodology of a small craft attaching these mines on the hulls of vessels in transit is cheap, low-tech and very efficient,” Marisks added.