The tanker campaign in the Strait of Hormuz continued into October with three more strikes in four days. UK Maritime Trade Operations logged two master-reported projectile attacks on Friday — one inside the outbound lane that caused a fire and a blackout, one on a crude tanker just east of Oman after dark — followed by a fresh strike reported Sunday in which a tanker took an unknown projectile to its engine room with no injuries.
The regional maritime picture remains severe: the Joint Maritime Information Center’s Update 101 held Hormuz at SEVERE, with deliberate attacks rated highly likely, and U.S. Naval Cooperation and Guidance for Shipping was averaging about 30 vessel transits a day against a 2025 baseline of roughly 138. Three of the most recent incidents involved vessels owned or chartered by companies in the United Arab Emirates, according to the Persian Gulf Shipping Authority, which said they sat on its non-compliance list for attempting transits the authority had not authorized.
Diplomatically, the strait is now an explicit bargaining chip. Iran briefly opened it on Friday and then shut it again, with the Revolutionary Guard Navy saying it will stay closed until the United States lifts its blockade on Iranian ports. President Trump said Washington would not be “blackmailed.” U.S. forces struck Iranian military targets late Friday in response to Thursday’s ship attack. India’s foreign ministry reported two Indian-flagged ships involved in a “shooting incident” in the strait. Brent’s December contract traded at $101.53 early Monday, while the tanker-freight index has risen 33 percent in a week on the war-risk bid.