Reports of ship attacks near Hormuz hit weekly high as oil shipments dip

Reports of attacks on ships in and around the Strait of Hormuz reached their highest weekly level since the US-Israeli war with Iran began, according to BBC Verify. Its tally of alerts from the UK’s Maritime Trade Operations agency recorded 12 vessels attacked from 5 to 11 October, compared with 10 the previous week. Six were hit on 11 October alone. [1]

The International Maritime Organization’s list of highlighted confirmed incidents also names 12 ships for 5–11 October, six of them dated 11 October. But the lists differ for the preceding week: the IMO names 11 ships, against BBC Verify’s 10 UK maritime alerts. The counts may use different selection and dating rules; the IMO list supports the latest week’s total but does not independently establish the historical record. BBC Verify says its timeline is approximate because some alerts are dated by the attack and others by the report. [1] [2]

The consequences for crews are stark. The IMO lists two seafarers as missing from the tanker Petro Dolphin, struck near Sohar in the Gulf of Oman on 11 October. Attacks continued into the following week: Singapore’s maritime authority says the container ship GFS Pride sank after a reported strike by an unknown projectile on 13 October. All 21 crew were safely evacuated. The authority did not identify an attacker. [2] [3]

Oil shipments through the strait were about 12.6 million barrels a day on 13 October, down from roughly 15 million at the end of September, BBC Verify reports using Kpler data. Its chart shows a seven-day rolling average, with recent figures marked as preliminary. The rise in reported attacks and the drop in shipments coincide, but those figures do not establish that the attacks caused the fall. [1]

Nor does the strait-only figure describe all regional exports. Kpler said on 1 October that non-Iranian Middle Eastern crude exports, including routes via the Gulf of Oman and Red Sea, were near pre-war levels at about 18.5 million barrels a day. That broader, earlier measure is not directly comparable with the later figure for oil passing through Hormuz. US Central Command, meanwhile, said commercial traffic continued to use the strait with protection from US forces and regional partners.