Hormuz Attacks Spread Deeper Into the Gulf as Tankers and LNG Carrier Struck

Two unidentified projectiles struck a tanker sailing southeast through the Arabian Gulf late on Sunday, 72 nautical miles east of Saudi Arabia's Ras Al Khafji — the furthest-reaching incident in a weekend of attacks that also hit an LNG carrier and left an offshore tug partially sinking.

UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported that all crew on the struck tanker were accounted for and no pollution was observed. The identity of the attackers and the projectiles remains unknown. That gap matters: without attribution, underwriters and shipowners cannot price the risk, only react to it.

What happened across the weekend?

The attacks unfolded in three separate incidents:

• Sunday night: a tanker hit by two projectiles on its port side, 72 nautical miles east of Ras Al Khafji; crew safe, no pollution reported (UKMTO).
• Earlier Sunday: a distress report from another vessel struck by a projectile inside the strait. Maritime security firm Vanguard Tech identified the ship as the UAE-owned offshore tug Selat Storm, partially sinking. The crew's condition remains unclear.
• Friday evening: Qatar's Nakilat confirmed its LNG carrier Al Mayeda was struck by unidentified objects. The vessel remains operational and the crew is safe. Doha condemned the attack and opened an investigation.

The geographical pattern is the significant part. A strike 72 nautical miles east of Ras Al Khafji sits well inside the Arabian Gulf, beyond the strait itself. Shipping that had treated the broader Gulf as relatively safer than the Hormuz chokepoint now has evidence to the contrary — assuming the incident reports hold up, which UKMTO's cautious language does not yet confirm.

What is Iran claiming?

Iran's Revolutionary Guards claimed further tankers had struck mines while using what Tehran considers an unauthorised southern shipping corridor. The vessels have not been identified. The claims remain unverified, and no independent corroboration had surfaced at the time of reporting.

The claim nonetheless signals intent. By framing a specific corridor as unauthorised, Tehran is asserting a right to enforce against traffic it has not yet named — a warning shot aimed at routeing decisions as much as at hulls.

That follows a report by Splash last week that Iran had singled out South Korean tanker operator Sinokor for enforcement action against its fleet from November 1. One named operator, one date, one threat. Sinokor has not publicly detailed its response.

What does this mean for Gulf shipping?

The commercial stakes concentrate in two cargoes: crude and LNG. A strike on a Nakilat carrier puts Qatari LNG — a major share of global supply — directly in the frame for the first time in this reporting. Al Mayeda stayed operational, but a repeat incident that disables an LNG vessel would harden war-risk premiums across Gulf loadings within days, not weeks.

For tanker owners, the weekend adds a second risk layer: projectiles in open Gulf waters and mines, if the Revolutionary Guards' claim proves accurate, in a contested southern corridor. The Selat Storm's partial sinking, with crew status unknown, shows the low end of what these strikes can do to smaller, less resilient tonnage.

For shippers and forwarders, the near-term exposure is cost and delay — longer routeings, higher insurance, tighter owner willingness to fix Gulf business. None of the incidents has yet closed the strait, and the source reports no suspension of traffic. But the diplomatic backdrop is deteriorating: Washington and Tehran are exchanging increasingly belligerent warnings even as fresh diplomatic efforts continue to end the eight-month conflict.

Diplomacy and attacks are now running in parallel. Whether either outpaces the other before November 1 — the date Iran's enforcement threat against Sinokor takes effect — will do much to determine whether Gulf risk premiums spike or settle.