Hormuz Ship Attacks Hit Highest Level Since War

At least 10 vessels have been attacked in or near the Strait of Hormuz since Sunday, marking the highest level of such incidents since the war between the United States, Israel and Iran began, security data showed on Wednesday.

Four vessels were struck on Tuesday and six on Sunday, the highest number of attacks recorded in a single day since the conflict started, according to data from security firm Vanguard, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).

Maritime sources reported that two seafarers were missing and a container ship had reportedly sunk following recent attacks.

Merchant vessels passing through the strategic waterway were first targeted by Iran in March in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes on its territory. Tehran has continued to attack ships using routes through the strait that it has not approved.

The attacks have disrupted shipping through the passage, one of the world’s busiest routes for exporting oil and other commodities from Gulf countries.

A total of 23 attacks have been recorded since the beginning of October, almost twice the average monthly number of incidents recorded since the war began.

The United States said on Saturday that it had struck a cargo vessel as part of its embargo on Iranian ports. However, the incident was not included in the IMO’s records.

Vanguard analyst Barun Gupta suggested that the recent increase in energy exports could be linked to the latest attacks. Oil shipments had nearly returned to pre-war levels at the start of October before falling again.

“Gulf oil flows have been recovering, with traffic through Hormuz recently returning to around 80 per cent of pre-war levels despite the conflict.

“Increasing the tempo of attacks therefore gives Tehran a way of demonstrating that it can still disrupt that recovery and impose costs on commercial shipping and global energy markets,” Gupta told AFP on Wednesday.

He also suggested that US President Donald Trump’s promise last week not to launch further attacks on Iran before the US midterm elections could be a factor.

According to Gupta, the pledge may have given Tehran “a perceived window to increase pressure with a lower immediate risk of US military escalation”.

The IMO said 24 seafarers had died in incidents in the area around the Strait of Hormuz since the conflict began.