Seatrade-Maritime: Crew abandon burning Dynacom tanker in Strait of Hormuz

Published by Seatrade-Maritime

A product tanker Kavomaleas owned by George Procopiou’s Dynacom Tankers is ablaze after being hit by an unknown projectile in Strait of Hormuz.

The UKMTO said in an update on the fire onboard the tanker 8 nm north of Kuzmar, Oman in the Strait of Hormuz that the company’s CSO said the vessel had been struck by an unknown projectile and was on fire. The incident took place at around 19:24 hrs UTC on 19 July.

The vessel’s crew have abandoned ship and were safely rescued by a tugboat. The tanker is now adrift and remains on fire, according to the UKMTO.

Maritime security firm Vanguard said the tanker involved is the 2025-built, Maltese-flagged Kavomaleas. The Kavomaleas is operated by Dynacom Tankers Management and its beneficial owner is Dynacom Tankers according to Pole Star Global’s PurpleTrac.

According to tracking data the Kavomaleas had broadcast a last location prior to the attack offshore from Fujairah on 18 July before turning off its AIS. The tanker had been stranded in the Arabian Gulf after it transited through the Strait of Hormuz on 25 February and spent several months offshore Saudi Arabia. It appeared to exit the Strait of Hormuz around 2 July although AIS tracking was turned off.

Dynacom Tankers is controlled by Greek shipowner George Procopiou who has been noted in reports for continuing to trade tankers through Hormuz during the Iran conflict despite the risk of attacks to vessels.

As of 19 July the Joint Maritime Information Centre (JMIC) said there had been 11 Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz since 25 June and the threat level remained at Severe “with deliberate hostile action assessed as highly likely under current conditions”.

“Recent confirmed incidents reinforce that the threat environment remains heightened and warrants extreme vigilance. IRGC attacks, hailing, and routing pressure continue, particularly for AIS-active vessels,” JMIC said.