Oil tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz are under fire almost daily, as Iran steps up attacks in a bid to stifle the resumption of crude exports.
Eleven oil tankers were attacked while transiting Hormuz during the week ending Oct. 4, the highest number of strikes against commercial shipping since the war began in late February, according to data from the International Maritime Organization, or IMO, a United Nations agency.
Five other tankers were attacked this week. Twelve sailors were injured on Monday when a projectile hit their tanker while it was transiting Hormuz. The sailors were of Indian nationality and the ship On Peace is owned by the United Arab Emirates, according to maritime security company Marisks.
“These actions continue to demonstrate Iran’s intention to assert (its) presence along key transit routes and maintain pressure on transiting vessels,” the Joint Maritime Information Center warned commercial vessels on Thursday. The center is a coalition of U.S. allied militaries headquartered in Bahrain that monitors maritime security in the region.
A senior official of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday that Iran would block all “illicit routes” passing through Hormuz, according to the Fars news agency, an outlet considered close to the Revolutionary Guards.
The surge in attacks on tankers comes as Middle East crude exports rebounded in September to pre-war levels, largely thanks to U.S. military escorts of ships passing Hormuz along a route along the coast of Oman.
“Volumes are coming, but they’re coming at a time when maritime risk is extremely high,” said Michelle Wiese Bockmann, senior maritime intelligence analyst at Windward, a risk management and surveillance provider.
At least nine sailors have died in attacks on ships since July, according to the IMO.
“This is not a sustainable new normal,” Richard Meade, editor-in-chief of the shipping industry trade journal Lloyd’s List, said at a press briefing on Thursday.
U.S. Central Command briefed shippers on Thursday about conditions in Hormuz. On Wednesday, Centcom said 20 million barrels of crude had passed through the strait, rejecting Iranian claims that the waterway was closed.
Crude flows have recently declined as attacks have increased. Exports through Hormuz totaled 8.5 million barrels per day (bpd) for the week ended Wednesday, about 40% below the pre-war normal, according to Kpler data released Friday. Shipments from the Middle East as a whole totaled 15.3 million bpd, 10% below pre-war levels, the data showed.
Iran, meanwhile, has not loaded crude oil for export since late August due to the U.S. naval blockade against the Islamic Republic, according to Kpler.
Tehran struck deeper into the Persian Gulf as the Revolutionary Guard warned it would not limit its attacks to Hormuz. The Guard said it would pursue ships throughout the region that violate Iranian transit rules, according to state media outlet Tasnim.
An oil tanker was hit by several projectiles off the coast of Qatar on Wednesday, causing casualties, according to the British maritime safety agency which monitors conditions in the Gulf.
Another tanker, the Gem No. 2, was hit by a projectile Friday off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, causing a fire on board. The ship left Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia, in March and has remained in the Persian Gulf since the start of the war, according to Marisks.
Since the start of the war in Iran in late February, at least 24 sailors have died in attacks on 100 commercial ships in Hormuz, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, according to the IMO.
Gn world
