12 attacks on vessels near Strait of Hormuz reported in a week — BBC News
The number of reports of attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz area from October 5 to 11 reached 12. This is the highest weekly figure recorded by the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran, BBC News reports.
In the previous week, UKMTO received reports of attacks on 10 vessels. Six vessels were attacked last Sunday, marking the highest daily figure. Since the beginning of the current week, four more attacks have been reported. BBC Verify notes that the timeline is approximate: some UKMTO reports give the date of the attack, while others give the date when the report was submitted.
Fire on tanker and sinking of container ship
The Nicaragua-flagged tanker Petro Dolphin was hit by a drone near the Sohar anchorage in Oman, more than 250 km from the strait, maritime intelligence company Vanguard reported. Verified video showed a fire on the vessel. According to the Forward Seamen's Union of India, 11 Indian sailors were rescued and two others remain missing.
On Tuesday, the container ship GFS Pride sank after being hit by an unidentified projectile in the Strait of Hormuz. Twenty-one crew members were safely evacuated. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps released footage which, according to the BBC's assessment, may have shown the sinking of the same vessel. In its statement, the corps claimed that the vessel was carrying 2,500 containers of contraband and was travelling along an “unauthorized route.”
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Oil shipments slowed
Amid the rising number of attacks, the recovery of oil shipments through the strait has slowed. According to Kpler, around 12.6 million barrels of oil per day were transported through the waterway on October 13, compared with 15 million barrels at the end of September and a pre-war level of about 17 million barrels per day.
US Navy data show that in the first 10 days of October, the number of vessels assisted in passing through the Strait of Hormuz increased by 85% compared with the same period in August. A significant share of oil from the Arab states of the Persian Gulf is transported using a shuttle-tanker scheme: they sail near Oman's coast and then transfer cargo to larger tankers in the Gulf of Oman. Iran calls this route unauthorized and insists that vessels pass closer to its coast.
Orbital Risk Intelligence CEO Martin Kelly said Iran had changed its tactics and was carrying out attacks almost daily or several times a day, seeking to halt vessel traffic and deter other carriers. According to him, the attacks have also spread to areas near the coasts of the Arab Gulf states and the Gulf of Oman. In particular, Vanguard reported a strike on a tanker north of Qatar on October 8 and an attack near the city of Al Jazeera Al Hamra in the UAE the following day.
