Iran has warned that merchant vessels disabling identification and tracking equipment during passages it considers unauthorised through the Strait of Hormuz will be treated as hostile.
Four alerts issued retrospectively by UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) on Monday detailed attacks on three tankers and a containership on 11 October, taking the day’s reported total to six. An unidentified projectile hit the inbound containership; the tankers were outbound. Vessel identities and damage details were not immediately available.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed it attacked a VLCC transiting without permission. Footage purportedly showed the fire-damaged Al Maqam, a 298,800 dwt vessel owned by ADNOC Logistics & Services. ADNOC declined to comment. Whether this was among UKMTO’s reported incidents remained unclear.
Two Indian seafarers remained missing following a drone attack on the Nicaragua-flagged Petro Dolphin off Sohar, Oman, on 11 October. Nine crewmembers were rescued.
The attacks followed Saturday’s US airstrike on the Panama-flagged Ocean Molica in the Gulf of Oman. Washington accused it of attempting to breach its naval blockade of Iranian ports.
At publication, UKMTO had recorded at least 18 reported regional attacks in October, with the threat extending beyond tankers.