The United Kingdom’s Maritime Trade Operations said the fire struck the vessel northwest of Sharjah, an Emirati sheikhdom. It offered no other information, AP reported.
Emirati officials said they were working to put out the blaze some 21 miles (34 kilometers) off the coast of Sharjah. They identified the ship as the crude oil tanker Zoya 1 and said 16 Indian and Pakistani crew reportedly had been stuck on the vessel for a year, unpaid, trying to come ashore amid a legal dispute over the vessel.
The state-run WAM news agency later described the tanker as unloaded and said its crew had been rescued.
Officials with the US military said they knew of the fire, but had no further information.