By Costas Paris and Summer Said

Two foreign tankers carrying Iraqi fuel oil were ablaze in Iraqi waters after being hit by projectiles, Iraqi ports officials said.

Farhan al-Fartousi, Iraq's director of the General Company for Ports, told The Wall Street Journal one sailor had died and that Iraqi rescuers were evacuating sailors from the two ships, which continued to burn. He said Iraq had closed all its oil ports and that oil had spilled at sea, but he couldn't assess the environmental damage for now.

Al-Fartousi later told Iraq's state-owned news channel that 37 crew members have been rescued so far and that the port's rescue team was still searching for the missing crew.

Iraq's State Oil Marketing Company expressed its deep regret that two tankers were targeted while operating within Iraqi waters. "The tanker SAFESEA VISHNU, flying the Marshall Islands flag and chartered to an Iraqi company contracted with it, and the tanker ZEFYROS, flying the Maltese flag and loaded with condensate from Basra Gas Company, were attacked while in the side-loading area within Iraqi territorial waters," the company said.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 11, 2026 20:20 ET (00:20 GMT)

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