Iranian Forces Strike a Tanker and Turn Back More Near Hormuz

A tanker inbound to the Arabian Gulf was struck by an unknown projectile on August 29, roughly 12 nautical miles north of Khasab, Oman. No casualties reported. No environmental damage.

UKMTO logged the strike as Warning 122-26. A tanker was struck at the same entrance earlier that week, that time sparking a fire that was put out before anyone was hurt.

Iran's WANA news agency, linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said Iranian forces turned back several more tankers in the same period. The crude tanker Ellie reversed course after entering the southern transit corridor and disabled its AIS to go dark. An Indian-managed LPG carrier named Haana received the same warning and pulled back. Martin Kelly of EOS Risk Group said Iranian patrol craft use searchlights at night to read names off hulls, then radio captains that their tanker is "locked in their system."

Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority also issued warnings last week naming 46 tankers for alleged transit violations. That follows the authority's blacklist of 45 tankers threatening fines, detention and cargo confiscation.

MarineRadar has tracked over 160 unique devices monitoring this area in the past 48 hours.