Oil tanker catches fire off UAE coast

An oil tanker has caught fire in the Persian Gulf near the coast of the United Arab Emirates but there is no information available on what caused the incident.

Reports on Wednesday suggested that the tanker had caught fire some 40 km off the coast of Sharjah, a port in the UAE.

They said that the vessel was manned when it caught fire around 4 pm local time. The number of crew was not known.

Sources told The National, an Emirati news website, that the UAE coast guard had assisted with the operation to put out the blaze and all the crew have been rescued.

According to reports the vessel is the Norwegian ship MV Osprey, and is a heavy load carrier.

The incident is the third of its kind involving boats travelling off the UAE coats in the past two weeks. On Sunday, a yacht caught fire in Dubai Marina and on January 17, a boat erupted in flames off Burj Al Arab after the vessel's engine failed and some leaked fuel ignited.

SS