Tanker Struck by Unknown Projectile Northwest of Musandam Peninsula
Crew extinguished the resulting fire and all reported safe, with no environmental impact
A tanker was struck in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday night, the latest in a long string of attacks on neutral shipping in the contested waterway and an indication that pressure on traffic in the US-defended corridor along the Omani coast is being maintained.
At about 1730 hours UTC on 25 August, UK Maritime Trade Operations received a report that a tanker had been hit by an unknown projectile at a position northwest of the Musandam Peninsula. A fire broke out following the strike, which the crew managed to extinguish.
All crew members are safe and there are no reports of environmental impact. The incident is under investigation.
Martin Kelly of EOS Risk Group reported on Wednesday afternoon that a Kuwaiti tanker had been hit in the strait. It was not immediately clear whether this was the same vessel referenced by UKMTO later in the day.
The strike follows another on Monday, when a tanker was hit on the east side of the Musandam Peninsula, within Omani waters, disabling the vessel and leaving it adrift. That casualty was identified as the newly built 115,000 dwt tanker Metro Venetian. On Wednesday the oceangoing tug Maria Leader was observed arriving to assist the stricken vessel.
The pattern of attacks inside and adjacent to Omani waters is significant because that corridor has been the route through which escorted and unescorted traffic has continued to move while the central strait remains contested. Strikes on that side of the peninsula erode the practical value of the geographic separation.
The incidents come as Oman and Iran continue talks on the joint management of a Strait of Hormuz shipping corridor, with proposals under discussion that would move from the contested two-corridor arrangement to a single temporary corridor.
