UKMTO has issued four warnings and an advisory on 5 October as Iran continues to target vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
The most recent incident among the reports relates to an attack at 1637 hrs on 5 October, while the three other warnings are time-late reports of incidents on 3 and 4 October.
The 5 October report from a ship’s master said the ship was struck by an unknown projectile leading to an engine room fire, which the crew was still fighting. There were no reports of casualties or environmental damage at the time of the report.The first of the late-reported 4 October attacks was at 1716 hrs, when an LPG tanker was hit by an unknown projectile. Two hours later, at 1907 hrs, a crude oil tanker was struck by a projectile.
The time of the 3 October attack was still TBC, but the report said a crude oil tanker was stuck above the waterline by an unknown projectile.
The latest reports are in addition to the 4 October attack on Chrystal Sky, a product tanker that reported a series of explosions in close proximity at around 1650 hrs.Earlier on 5 October, UKMTO also issued an advisory of suspicious activity after a ship’s master report being hailed by the IRGC. The Iranian forces warned that the ship would be fired upon if it did not turn back, and the ship subsequently complied with the IRGC instruction. The incident happened 11 nm North of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz and the vessel was reported by Vanguard Tech to be the Liberia-registered Singapore Energy.
The frequency of attacks on ships in the strait has increased over the past week, with UKMTO issuing nine reports in October to date, eight of attacks in Hormuz and one in Bab el Mandeb. The recent trend of late reports from UKMTO means the actual total number of attacks may be higher.
The early October attacks come as crude export volumes out of Hormuz have increased over the past month to approach pre-conflict levels, although oil prices remain elevated due to new logistics inefficiencies and significantly higher tanker charter rates, among other factors.
Oil exports out of Iran remain limited by the US blockade of Iranian ports, a policy the US has stuck to since its reintroduction after the collapse of the US-Iran peace MoU earlier this year.
One US military policy that seems to have lapsed is the eye-for-an-eye threat to destroy an Iranian tanker for each merchant ship attacked by the Iranians. The US has not made a clear response to the recent resurgence of Iranian attacks on merchant ships.
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