Decades-old photo of sinking tanker falsely linked to Middle East war

"Iran targets a US oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz with a Shahed-136 drone," reads the Hindi-language caption of an image shared on X on March 9, 2026.

The image shows a partially sunken vessel, tilted and charred black, as flames and thick smoke rise from the water's surface.

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Screenshot of the false post captured on March 9, 2026, with a red X added by AFP

The image was also shared elsewhere in similar Facebook posts as vessels in or near the Strait of Hormuz came under attack following the outbreak of war in the Middle East on February 28 that almost completely halted traffic through the strait, which is a crucial route for oil and other goods (archived link).

Iran's quest to inflict maximum pain on the global economy in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes has all but shut the narrow strait through which 20 percent of global crude and LNG normally passes (archived link).

US President Donald Trump has urged countries that rely on oil carried through the strait to step up and help take responsibility for keeping the passage open -- with American support.

The circulating image, however, does not show an oil tanker attacked in the Strait of Hormuz.

At the bottom of the circulating image is the word "Alamy" and a string of letters and numbers. A subsequent search on the stock photo website Alamy led to the same image (archived link).

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Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared image (L) and the photo on the Alamy website

The photo's description says it shows the Haven oil tanker that caught fire and sank off the Italian coast.

Subsequent keyword searches found similar photos of the incident distributed by AFP and Getty Images (archived link).

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Screenshot of the photo published on Getty Images, taken on March 16, 2026

The Getty Images photo -- dated April 13, 1991 -- is credited to photographer Albert Pizzoli.

Pizzoli, now working with AFP, said the photo was taken on April 13, 1991.

"The Haven oil tanker disaster was a serious maritime accident that occurred on April 11, 1991, off the coast of Arenzano, Italy," he said. "At the time I was working for a photo agency called SYGMA."

The Los Angeles Times reported on April 14, 1991, that "the tanker, the Cypriot-registered Haven, was loaded with nearly 41 million gallons of Iranian crude oil when it began burning on April 11. It was set ablaze by an explosion in a holding tank that had just been unloaded, authorities said" (archived link).

AFP has debunked similar claims that an unrelated footage shows an American tanker that was truck in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as other misinformation stemming from the Middle East war.

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