INCIDENT OCCURRED OFF UAE COAST
Maritime security sources said the Chinese vessel that was damaged was believed to be the Marshall Islands-flagged oil products and chemical tanker JV Innovation, which had reported a fire on its deck to nearby ships on Monday.
The incident took place off the United Arab Emirates coast in the Gulf close to Mina Saqr, the report said.
Due to the ongoing conflict between the US and Iran, hundreds of ships and 20,000 seafarers remain trapped inside the Gulf, with traffic through Hormuz paralysed after renewed attacks on ships this week.
China’s foreign minister Wang Yi met with Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Beijing a day earlier and they discussed reopening the strait, a Chinese foreign ministry statement said.
The US and Iran are edging toward a limited, temporary agreement to halt the war, sources and officials said, with a draft framework that would stop the fighting but leave the most contentious issues unresolved.