A tanker was struck by multiple projectiles in the Gulf north of Qatar, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency reported. The incident took place 51 nautical miles (94km) from Madinat al-Shamal, and the UKMTO said casualties were reported.
Maritime intelligence company Vanguard identified the ship as the Acers, an oil and chemical tanker sailing under the flag of Antigua and Barbuda. According to the BBC, the vessel had been listed as carrying cargo when it was recorded on Saturday heading toward the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway linking the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman.
Why it matters
The strike marks the first reported attack on a vessel this far west of the Strait of Hormuz since 9 September, according to Martin Kelly, head of advisory at EOS Risk Group. That earlier date was the last time an incident produced casualties — two sailors died when the Panama-flagged tanker El Gaia was attacked in the strait, just north of Oman's Musandam peninsula, per the UN's International Maritime Organization.
The broader toll is severe. The IMO has confirmed 93 incidents involving merchant vessels in the region since February, when the war between the United States and Israel and Iran began, and at least 24 seafarers have been killed across those events.
A second vessel and an unexplained fire
Vanguard also reported a fire aboard another tanker on Thursday in the Gulf of Oman, roughly 40km east of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. The firm said the ship was likely the Dhalkut, which sails under the Marshall Islands flag.
What caused the fire has not been established, and the UKMTO has not logged any incident in that area, according to the BBC.
How the waterway became a flashpoint
The Strait of Hormuz normally carries about a fifth of the world's oil and gas shipments. It was effectively shut down once the Iran war started, as Tehran launched missile and drone strikes on commercial shipping and the US Navy blockaded Iranian ports.
A preliminary deal between Washington and Tehran to halt the fighting and restore traffic through the strait was reached in June. It fell apart within weeks, the BBC reports, after Iranian attacks on shipping resumed and the US put its blockade back in place.
Iran has made clear it will not surrender a degree of control over the waterway. Its forces have targeted ships taking a southern route through Omani waters — a path that bypasses the route through Iranian waters that Tehran favors.
To sustain exports from Gulf Arab states, the US military has been escorting tankers carrying oil through the strait. Analysts at the shipping data firm Kpler say crude exports through the waterway have averaged 12 million barrels per day over the past two weeks, roughly 80% of the level seen before the war.
What to watch: whether the UKMTO or regional authorities release further details on the Acers and its crew, and whether attacks continue spreading westward from the strait.
