As the United States and Iran exchanged fire for the first time in a month, signalling a return to hostilities, maritime security consultant Marisks said on Tuesday (local time) that two oil supertankers were struck by unknown projectiles in quick succession while transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
While one of the crude carriers, Sidr, operated by Saudi Arabia’s Bahri shipping company, was targeted northeast of Khasab, Oman, the Senegal Prosperity, operated by Sinokor, was struck by three projectiles while travelling east of the country. Both vessels were exiting the Persian Gulf, Bloomberg reported, citing the consultant.
The development came hours after the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), a British maritime agency, reported that a tanker was struck by three unknown projectiles while completing an outbound transit of the strategic waterway.
In a post on X, the maritime agency wrote, “A tanker has reported being struck by 3 unknown projectiles whilst completing an outbound transit of the Strait of Hormuz.” The incident occurred 17 nautical miles (31 kilometres) east of the Omani city of Khasab, it noted, adding that no casualties or environmental impact were reported.
While UKMTO did not identify the vessel, an AFP report, citing maritime security company Vanguard Tech, later identified it as the Liberia-flagged Senegal Prosperity. Vanguard said, “The rockets impacted the vessel’s port side, engine room and ballast tank, resulting in a loss of communications,” and added that the crew was safe.
This story will be updated with more details.
