Vessel Struck by Multiple Projectiles in Gulf Waters Off Qatar, UK Maritime Agency Reports

A tanker was struck by multiple projectiles in waters north of Qatar in the Gulf, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency reported.

The incident occurred 51 nautical miles (94 km) from Madinat al-Shamal, with casualties reported, UKMTO confirmed.

Maritime intelligence firm Vanguard identified the vessel as the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged oil and chemical tanker Acers, which was carrying cargo and sailing toward the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday.

Merchant vessels have faced repeated attacks in the region since the US-Israel conflict with Iran began in February.

According to the UN’s International Maritime Organization, at least 24 seafarers have been killed across 93 confirmed incidents.

The last fatal incident occurred on September 9, when two sailors died in an attack on the Panama-flagged tanker El Gaia in the Strait of Hormuz, north of Oman’s Musandam peninsula.

This marks the first reported attack this far west of the Strait of Hormuz since that date, according to Martin Kelly, head of advisory at EOS Risk Group.

Vanguard also reported a fire aboard another tanker on Thursday in the Gulf of Oman, about 40 km east of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. The vessel was likely the Marshall Islands-flagged Dhalkut.

The cause of the fire remains unclear, and UKMTO has not reported an incident in the area.

The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of global oil and gas shipments typically pass, was effectively closed after the Iran war began due to Tehran’s missile and drone attacks on commercial vessels and a US naval blockade of Iranian ports.

The US and Iran reached a preliminary agreement in June to end the war and reopen the strait, but it collapsed within weeks after Iranian attacks on shipping resumed and the US reinstated its blockade.

Iran insisted it would not relinquish control over the waterway and targeted vessels using a southern route through Omani waters to avoid its preferred route through Iranian waters.

To maintain oil exports from Gulf Arab states, the US military has provided protection for tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

Crude exports through the waterway have averaged 12 million barrels per day over the past two weeks, around 80% of pre-war levels, according to Kpler analysts.

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