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The campaign widened beyond the strait on Wednesday. The chemical and oil tanker Acers, flagged in Antigua and Barbuda, was struck by multiple projectiles at about 19:00 UTC on October 7 roughly 51 nautical miles north of Madinat ash Shamal, Qatar, according to UK Maritime Trade Operations, with casualties reported among the crew. UKMTO did not specify how many seafarers were injured or killed, the extent of the damage, or the type of weapons involved, and it has not attributed the attack to any party. The strike location matters: this was well inside the Persian Gulf, west of Hormuz, demonstrating that the threat now reaches tankers already operating in the Gulf, not only vessels attempting to enter or leave through the strait.
Attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz hit their highest level of any week since the US war with Iran began February 28, three maritime security sources told Reuters Wednesday, with at least 12 attacks on oil, liquefied natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas tankers in the week of September 28 to October 5. Separate data from the UN’s International Maritime Organization logged nine incidents for the same week, the slower verification cycle accounting for the gap, and the closest prior week was the week of July 13 with eight incidents. The Joint Maritime Information Center, the US Navy-led monitoring body, said drone overflights, surveillance and IRGC hailing of vessels continued through the strait and showed Iran’s intent to maintain pressure on transiting vessels.
The week’s toll includes the Panama-flagged Aframax On Peace, struck by an unknown projectile Tuesday off Oman about nine nautical miles off Limah, which left a fire on board and 12 of 19 crew injured, 11 of them Indian nationals. India’s foreign ministry issued a statement Tuesday on the attack, and Omani Air Force helicopters evacuated the injured to Khasab hospital. UKMTO separately reported five incidents on Monday, October 5, including four tanker strikes on October 3-4 and an inbound tanker ordered to turn around by the IRGC about 11 nautical miles north of Khasab, Oman, under threat of being targeted. The master complied and changed course. JMIC’s October 4 update described one drone entering a tanker’s funnel and dropping into the engine room, causing a small fire and temporary loss of power.
The escalation is arriving just as Gulf producers push exports harder. Gulf oil exporters topped pre-war levels for about half of September, shipping data showed Monday, even as the full-month average sat at 81 percent of pre-war. US Central Command said American forces redirected the 130th commercial vessel on October 5 under the blockade resumed July 14, and that three non-compliant vessels had been disabled and 13 destroyed over the prior 12 weeks. The market read is straightforward in the 7:00 AM table: Brent $105.23, up 5.02 percent overnight, and WTI $92.78, up 5.1 percent, while the tanker freight proxy added 1.11 percent on the day and 19.55 percent on the week.