Smoke is seen rising from oil tanker El Gaia in released footage on Tuesday as it was hit by sea mines while passing through a prohibited zone south of the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps via Iran's Fars news agency’s report on Monday.
Reuters verified the identity of the oil tanker as 'El Gaia' with the mast, funnel, and bridge that matched archive imagery. The date of the video could not be verified but matches reports of damage to the oil tanker, and no older versions of the video were found online before September 15.
The US military's Central Command immediately said the report was false and the tanker was "struck by an Iranian missile last month and rendered inoperable."
The United Nations' International Maritime Organization reported that El Gaia was damaged on Saturday, but did not say how, and that two seafarers were missing. The British navy-affiliated agency UK Maritime Trade Operations reported that a vessel it did not identify was struck by a projectile within the strait on Saturday, adding that a fire broke out and the crew was being evacuated.
Reuters could not immediately contact the ship's owners in Dubai to verify any of the accounts. El Gaia had been on a list of 77 ships that Iran said had violated its operating protocols in Hormuz, warning that they could face fines, detention, or confiscation on future transits.