Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy reported that two supertankers attempting to pass through an unauthorised southern route in the Strait of Hormuz struck naval mines earlier on Friday.

Axar.az reports, citing Gulf News, that the explosions and severe fires disabled their engine rooms, leaving both vessels stranded.

The two tankers were carrying a combined total of more than 4.5 million barrels of crude oil, according to the IRGC Navy.

The statement added that the vessels had been abandoned off the southern coast of the Strait of Hormuz following the explosions, with their crews leaving the ships.