IRGC says ships running dark in Hormuz will be treated as hostile after Al Maqam strike

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy has warned that ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz with their navigation and identification systems switched off will be classified as hostile and face decisive action. The warning, issued over the weekend of 11 and 12 October, targets a practice now common in the strait, where many tankers and smaller shuttle vessels cross with their AIS transponders off along the Omani side.

The IRGC said three oil tankers that had broken its rules for crossing the strait had struck mines and caught fire since 10 October, one of them a supertanker that had switched off all its navigation systems and used what it called an unauthorised route. On 13 October it said it had struck an unidentified supertanker that ignored warnings and tried to leave by an unauthorised route. None of these claims has been independently verified, and US Central Command has said the shipping lane has been cleared of mines. The IRGC Navy also warned that any cooperation by merchant ships with the US military in the strait and the Gulf would meet a "decisive response".

Which ship was in the IRGC footage?

Footage released by IRGC-affiliated media shows the stern of the laden VLCC Al Maqam, with a fire-blackened funnel and a tug trying to put out a fire on board. The Liberia-flagged ship of 298,800 dwt, built in 2017, is owned and managed by ADNOC Logistics & Services, which declined to comment. It is not clear when she was hit or whether she is one of the ships in the UKMTO reports.

UKMTO logged six attacks on ships on Sunday 11 October, an unprecedented daily rate in the conflict if all are confirmed. They included an outbound tanker hit northeast of the Musandam Peninsula, a containership at the eastern entrance of the strait, a tanker near the northern tip of Musandam and a product tanker northwest of the peninsula. The same day the small product tanker Petro Dolphin was struck off Sohar, where two Indian seafarers remain missing. UKMTO has issued 18 reports of attacks in and around the strait in October.

What has it done to traffic?

Traffic had shown some recovery before the latest wave. UKMTO counted 275 inbound and outbound transits in the seven days to 7 October, up from 247 the week before, a figure that includes US-facilitated transits it cannot independently verify. Traffic was still about 75% below pre-conflict levels. The Joint Maritime Information Center rates the threat in the strait as severe and in the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman as moderate.

Since the weekend at least ten VLCCs and several Suezmaxes that appeared to be heading for Fujairah have stopped or turned around, and spot charter rates for VLCCs are at record highs.

This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 13 October 2026.