A cargo vessel has been hit by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, which has ignited a fire onboard, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), a Royal Navy-sponsored organization, said on Wednesday.
UKMTO said it had received a report of an incident 11 nautical miles north of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz.
The vessel has requested assistance, and the crew is evacuating the vessel, said the organization, which liaises between the navy and merchant shipping.
The Joint Maritime Information Center continues to assess the situation in the region as ‘critical’ in its latest update, “with attacks against commercial shipping still assessed as likely and operating conditions highly hazardous.”
“Recent incident patterns suggest a campaign focused on operational disruption and uncertainty, with strikes targeting vessels at anchor, drifting ships, and support vessels responding to incidents,” the center said.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday sought to reassure markets and claimed the war would end soon, but Iran on Tuesday vowed not to let “a litre” of oil be exported from the Middle East until the United States and Israel stop bombing it.
Reports emerged later on Tuesday that Iran had started laying naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
The U.S. military said it had “eliminated” 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the Strait of Hormuz.
However, the situation appears to be worsening by the day.
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The largest oil producers in the Middle East Gulf have deepened production cuts and are already lowering output by a combined more than 5 million barrels per day (bpd) as the de facto halt to tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has started to affect upstream production.
“Port exception activity is rising across Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Pakistan, indicating a widening logistical strain across regional infrastructure,” maritime AI company Windward said on Tuesday.
“Energy market stress remains acute, with Gulf crude rerouting, elevated prices, and tightening tanker availability reinforcing broader supply risk.”
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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