Indian ships reverse course in Strait of Hormuz after gunfire; MEA summons Iranian envoy

Two Indian vessels had to reverse their course in the Strait of Hormuz following an incident of firing by Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

According a report by Associated Press (AP), TankerTrackers.com said one of the Indian-flagged super tanker was carrying 2 million barrels of Iraqi oil.

Later, India summoned Iranian envoy Mohammad Fathali and conveyed its strong protest over the incident.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri conveyed to the envoy India's "deep concern" at the shooting incident involving the two ships, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

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The foreign secretary noted the "importance that India attached to the safety of merchant shipping and mariners and recalled that Iran had earlier facilitated the safe passage of several ships bound for India", it said.

"Reiterating his concern at this serious incident of firing on merchant ships, the foreign secretary urged the ambassador to convey India's views to the authorities in Iran and resume at the earliest the process of facilitating India-bound ships across the Strait," the MEA said in a statement.

It said that Ambassador Fathali "undertook to convey these views to the Iranian authorities".

Earlier, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency ⁠said it had ⁠received a report of ‌a tanker ​being fired upon by what it said "two gunboats linked to the IRGC" 20 nautical ​miles ⁠northeast of Oman.

The captain of the tanker said the two gunboats opened ⁠fire without ‌issuing a radio challenge, UKMTO said in its ‌advisory note, adding that the ⁠vessel and its crew were reported safe.

In ‌a separate incident, ‌UKMTO said it had ‌received a report of ‌a container ship being hit by an unknown projectile 25 nautical ⁠miles northeast ⁠of Oman.

The attack caused damage to some containers on board, but no fires or environmental impact were reported, and there ​were no immediate reports of ​casualties, UKMTO ​said.