An unidentified tanker has been hit by several projectiles 51 nautical miles from Madinat ash Shamal in Qatar, extending the recent pattern of attacks beyond the Strait of Hormuz. Hellenic Shipping News, citing an October 7 UK Maritime Trade Operations report, said the incident was the first outside the strait since September 9, adding to security concerns around Gulf loading ports and anchorages.
UKMTO recorded 16 attacks on vessels in the Middle East Gulf over the preceding 10 days. According to Windward, whose report was carried by Hellenic Shipping News, 12 of the affected vessels had been identified and verified, including 11 tankers. All 12 were travelling through the southern corridor with US military assistance and operating without transmitting tracking signals.
The disruption is accompanied by exceptional transport costs and substantial crude price discounts. Windward said it had been told that national oil companies were paying $50 million for each tanker transit to ship-to-ship transfer locations off Fujairah and Oman. It also reported discounts of $35 a barrel against the official selling price as producers sought to secure buyers while keeping cargoes moving.
Hellenic Shipping News reported that the benchmark freight rate for a very large crude carrier carrying Saudi Arabian oil to China had risen above $1.3 million a day. The report put freight's share of the cost of Gulf crude at more than 25–30%, compared with 1–3% in normal conditions, as attacks further constrained the availability of tankers prepared to make the passage.
The security threat also affects Gulf Cooperation Council ports and anchorages where vessels load oil and gas before coordinated corridor transits. The previous attack beyond Hormuz involved a Greek-owned VLCC in Iraqi waters on September 9. An October 6 attack on ON PEACE injured 12 Indian seafarers, while reports also described tankers reversing course during transit after contact from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. In early September, US CENTCOM disabled or destroyed eight tankers trading with Iran, an action the report linked to a reciprocal response to attacks on corridor traffic.