The tanker captain summoned his years of experience when he saw the blast in front of him. He veered his 300-meter-long ship around the vessel ahead and could see a fire had started. He called the US Navy to tell them of the attack.

Two of the Iran-linked oil supertankers interdicted by American naval forces early in the war are just weeks away from reaching the US, where authorities have pledged to seize the vessels and millions of dollars worth of crude that they’re transporting.