Two tankers hit in Hormuz as US disables cargo ship in Gulf of Oman

Two outbound tankers were hit by projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz on 10 and 11 October, while US forces disabled a cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman, gCaptain reported. The incidents followed attacks off Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, extending the recent pattern of violence against merchant shipping beyond the strait.

UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said the first tanker was hit on its port side at about 1920 UTC on 10 October, starting a fire. Its crew was reported safe, but the scale of damage and any environmental consequences were unknown. A second outbound tanker reported a port-side projectile strike on 11 October. That vessel suffered damage, although its crew was safe and no environmental impact had been reported. Neither tanker was named, and UKMTO did not identify those responsible.

The preceding Friday, a tanker identified by maritime security sources as the Panama-flagged crude carrier GEM NO.2 was struck while anchored roughly 13 nautical miles west of Al Jazeera in the UAE, according to gCaptain. A resulting fire was extinguished. Two days earlier, another tanker had been hit by several projectiles off Qatar.

Separately, US Central Command said an American fighter jet struck the stern of the Panama-flagged Ocean Molica, also known as Arika Sun, on 10 October. According to the command, the vessel had left an Iranian port, disregarded repeated warnings and attempted to breach the US naval blockade. CENTCOM said the strike stopped its propulsion without causing crew injuries.

CENTCOM described Ocean Molica as the fourth commercial vessel disabled since US forces reinstated the blockade of Iranian ports on 14 July. It also said forces had turned back 135 commercial ships and destroyed 10 tankers associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ shadow fleet network during that period. Washington says Hormuz remains open to international shipping despite its measures against Iranian maritime trade.

UKMTO also relayed reports from shipmasters near Ras Al Khaimah of VHF messages ordering vessels away from anchorages. A separate advisory concerned a tanker and military forces in the Gulf of Oman, but its possible connection to Ocean Molica was unclear. The US-led Joint Maritime Information Center had warned on Thursday that attacks were increasing, urging greater crew vigilance and closer industry monitoring.