A fire broke out aboard the Navig8 Messi in the southern route of the Strait of Hormuz after the vessel was hit by an Iranian strike on Nov 7. The attack, carried out via a drone or missile from above, penetrated the ship’s deck and neutralized the inert gas atmosphere within its enclosed tanks, leading to the blaze that required tugboats to intervene.
The product tanker, which likely carries diesel and is believed to be part of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s shuttle fleet, had disabled its automatic identification system (AIS) for two days prior to the hit. The vessel was included on Iran’s PGSA non-compliant-vessels list, and its crew had reportedly used tarps to cover the ship’s name to conceal its identity.
