Cargo ship struck off Oman coast in latest Hormuz attack

A cargo ship broadcast an emergency on Channel 16 at 22:00 UTC on August 3. The crew said the ship had been struck by an unknown projectile. Location: 20 nautical miles northeast of Al Khasab, Oman. The UK Maritime Trade Operations office confirmed the incident the following morning.

It was the fourth attack near the strait in four days.

On July 31 at 23:30 UTC, the Gaslog Shanghai, a Bermuda-flagged ship loaded with Qatari natural gas, was 11 nautical miles northeast of Limah, Oman, when a projectile hit its portside engine room. Fire broke out. Crew put it out. The ship lost all power and propulsion. GasLog confirmed all crew safe.

On August 2, the VLCC Egypt Prosperity received a radio call from someone claiming to be Iran's Sepah Navy, then heard an explosion off the starboard beam. The ship diverted toward Dubai's outer port limits. That same day, the Liberia-flagged Aframax On Pride reported warning shots from the north and an explosion 1.5 nautical miles off its port quarter, also in Omani territorial waters. Both ships came through unharmed.

None of the attacks has been attributed to any party.

Traffic through the strait had already dropped sharply. As of July 23, PortWatch data from the IMF showed 10 vessels per day transiting, against a pre-crisis baseline of 88.