By Lewis Jackson and Sam Li
BEIJING, May 8 (Reuters) – China’s foreign ministry confirmed on Friday that an oil products tanker carrying Chinese crew was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, and expressed deep concern about vessels affected by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
There are Chinese nationals aboard the vessel, but no reported crew casualties so far, foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said during a regular news conference.
Chinese media Caixin reported on Thursday that a Chinese-owned oil products tanker marked “CHINA OWNER & CREW” was attacked near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday.
The attack happened before a meeting between China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, and his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi in Beijing on Wednesday, when they discussed reopening the strait.
China has remained a major buyer of Iranian oil since the outbreak of the Iran war, with its imports from Iran largely unaffected in March.
The attacked vessel has not been officially identified.
Maritime security sources said the damaged vessel was believed to be the Marshall Islands-flagged oil products and chemical tanker JV Innovation, which reported a fire on deck to nearby ships on Monday.
The incident occurred off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in the Gulf, near Mina Saqr, the report said.
The conflict between the United States and Iran has left hundreds of ships and around 20,000 seafarers stranded inside the Gulf, while traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has been severely disrupted by renewed attacks on vessels this week.
The United States and Iran exchanged fire again on Thursday as Washington awaited Tehran’s response to a U.S. proposal aimed at halting the fighting while leaving contentious issues, including Iran’s nuclear programme, unresolved for now.
(Reporting by Lewis Jackson and Sam Li; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Ros Russell)
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