DUBAI: The UAE National Guard said on Saturday it rescued 22 crew members from an oil tanker that caught fire in the Arabian Gulf. In a post on X, the National Guard said its Coast Guard responded to a distress call reporting a fire aboard the tanker and dispatched emergency teams to locate the vessel. All 22 crew members, described as Asian nationals, were safely evacuated and given first aid before being handed over to the relevant authorities, the statement said. They were all reported to be in stable condition. The statement did not identify the tanker or the cause of the fire or when the rescue took place. The statement comes a day after a Panama-flagged crude oil tanker, identified as Gem No.2, was struck by an unidentified projectile off the UAE coast on Friday, sparking a fire. The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency said the vessel was hit about 13 nautical miles west of Al-Jazeera in the UAE. The fire was subsequently extinguished, according to the agency. The attack took place outside the Strait of Hormuz, raising concerns that threats to commercial shipping were spreading to other parts of the Gulf. No group has claimed responsibility for the strike. Tankers have faced increasing security risks in recent weeks as Iran has threatened to block shipping routes it has not authorized through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital passage for global energy supplies. Earlier this week, another tanker was struck by projectiles off the coast of Qatar, while maritime security authorities warned shipping operators to exercise greater vigilance amid the escalation.