Vessel Catches Fire Near Oman Coast in Strait of Hormuz

A vessel caught fire Monday near the coast of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting an urgent navigation advisory from the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations as the waterway remains under heavy strain from the ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran. The UKMTO said it received a report of an incident approximately eight nautical miles northwest of Kumzar, Oman. Military authorities informed the agency that a vessel was on fire, but the cause of the blaze has not yet been confirmed. The agency advised commercial ships transiting the area to exercise caution and report any suspicious activity while investigators work to determine how the fire started.

The incident comes as the United States launched a ninth straight night of airstrikes on Iran early Monday, the US military said. The latest strikes followed the announcement that another American service member had been killed. The military said the service member died in Iraq on Saturday during the controlled detonation of a downed Iranian drone. That death brought the number of US service members killed since the conflict began to 17. The United States has struck bridges, electrical facilities, and other sites...