The British Maritime Trade Center said it had received reports of a tanker burning northwest of the emirate of Sharjah in the Emirates.
Reuters quoted a spokesman for the US Fifth Fleet as saying that he was aware of an accident off the coast of Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates.
Activists shared video footage of what they said was a fire off the coast of Sharjah. The UAE did not immediately report the fire, and officials did not respond to requests for comment, according to Reuters.
The incident comes amid escalating tensions in the region after the United States killed the commander of the Qods Force in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, General Qassem Soleimani, in a raid by a drone in Baghdad, and Iran responded with attacks on military bases in Iraq that include American forces.