A tanker was struck by an unknown projectile 68 nautical miles northeast of Jubail, Saudi Arabia, on Friday, and a second tanker was attacked by a rocket-propelled grenade fired from a small boat in the same area, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said in reports issued on Saturday. All crew members in both reports were safe. Separately, Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy said on Saturday that two oil tankers had caught fire after hitting naval mines while crossing the Strait of Hormuz — a claim for which there was no independent confirmation.
What did UKMTO report off Jubail?
UKMTO said it had received a time-late report of a tanker struck by an unknown projectile 68 nautical miles northeast of Jubail on Friday, Reuters reported. All crew members were safe and had been evacuated, and no environmental impact had been reported. UKMTO later issued a second report on Saturday saying a tanker was attacked by a rocket-propelled grenade from a small boat 78 nautical miles northeast of Jubail, also on Friday, damaging its aft port quarter. All crew members were safe, while the full extent of the damage and any environmental impact was not yet known. Reuters said it could not immediately establish whether the two reports referred to the same incident. UKMTO advised vessels to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity while authorities investigate, according to the statement carried by ANI. No party has been identified as responsible for either attack, and neither report attributed the strikes to any state or group.
What have Iran's Revolutionary Guards claimed in the Strait of Hormuz?
Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy said on Saturday that two oil tankers had caught fire after hitting naval mines while crossing the Strait of Hormuz, the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported, via Reuters. State media said both tankers were carrying about 2 million barrels of crude oil. IRNA reported that the vessels had switched off their positioning and radar systems and attempted to use an unauthorised route through the waterway, and that the second vessel was left immobilised after striking a mine. Reuters stated directly that there was no independent confirmation of the reports. The vessels were not named, and no maritime authority had confirmed a mine strike, a fire, or the condition of any crew. The claim is published here as the Guards' account, reported by Reuters, with that limitation stated.
Why does it matter?
The two sets of reports point in different directions geographically: the UKMTO incidents happened in the central Persian Gulf off Saudi Arabia's east coast, hundreds of kilometres from the Strait of Hormuz, while the Guards' claim concerns the strait itself, the chokepoint through which Gulf oil and gas exports reach the open sea. They come in an already violent week for shipping around the waterway: maritime officials said on Wednesday that a container ship and a dry bulk carrier sank near the strait after being hit by projectiles in separate incidents, Reuters reported. Attacks around the waterway have surged over the past two weeks, with Iran saying it is stepping up strikes in response to the United States' blockade of its ports and tougher sanctions imposed last month, and disruptions to shipping through the strait during the US-Israeli war on Iran have boosted global energy prices and inflation.
Attribution note: the Jubail-area attacks are UKMTO reports carried by Reuters and ANI; UKMTO did not attribute them, and Reuters could not immediately establish whether its two reports describe one incident or two. The Strait of Hormuz mine and fire claims are those of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy as reported by IRNA and carried by Reuters, which said there was no independent confirmation; no vessel identity, crew condition, or environmental damage from those claims has been verified.
