Tanker Hit as Hormuz Sailings Drop

The number of visible commodity vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz dropped to five per day over the weekend, shipping data showed on Monday, as companies tread cautiously amid continued attacks on ships.

The actual number of ships passing the strait could be higher as some vessels have switched off their automatic identification system to evade attacks.

Weekend traffic was limited to small-sized vessels, data from commodities firm Kpler showed. These included two liquefied petroleum gas carriers with one of them exiting the strait via the Iranian route while the other sailed out in the dark and is heading for India, the data showed.

On Friday, 14 vessels passed the strait including a very large crude carrier laden with 2 million barrels of Qatari oil that exited with its transponder switched off.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations reported on Sunday that a tanker was struck by an unknown projectile while transiting inbound through the Hormuz strait on Saturday.

That marked the third attack in the strait reported by the agency over the past week.

A supertanker caught fire and was brought to a complete halt after being struck by two naval mines in the southern Strait of Hormuz, Iran state TV reported on Monday, citing a statement by the Revolutionary Guards. 

The Guards said the tanker had been attempting to pass through the waterway illegally. It did not identify the vessel or provide information about its crew.

The Guards warned that other ships violating its security rules would face the same fate and said compliance with its regulations for passage through the Strait of Hormuz was mandatory.

Tensions in the Gulf rose after U.S. forces struck two Iranian launchers on Iran's Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, the first known American strikes on the Gulf nation since late July.

IMO Calls for Return to Unhindered Navigation

Thousands of seafarers have been stuck in the Persian Gulf since the current conflict in the Middle East began on 28 February this year.

To date, at least 70 attacks on international shipping have been verified by the IMO, with 19 seafarers killed.

With maritime security threats on the rise globally, IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez issued the following statement:

"Six months since the conflict in the Middle East began, the situation in the Strait of Hormuz is unresolved. Thousands of seafarers in the region continue to live and work under conditions of heightened risk and uncertainty.

"While some ships and their crews have been able to leave the Persian Gulf, up to 400 ships carrying around 6,000 seafarers have been unable to depart safely since the conflict began.

"The impacts of this crisis are grave – both in the short and long term. The disruption of vital supply chains for fuels, fertilizers and other commodities has consequences for communities and economies around the world.

"In July, the IMO Council adopted a resolution on the protection of vital shipping lanes, reaffirming that the right of transit passage through straits used for international navigation must not be threatened, impeded, denied, hampered, impaired or suspended. It called for a coordinated and sustainable return to unhindered navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

"Renewed political will and cooperation is needed to deliver on this commitment. I call on all Member States and the shipping industry to work together with IMO and the wider United Nations system, to advance practical solutions to restore the freedom of navigation through the Strait.

"The deterioration of maritime security around the globe – from the Black Sea to the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden – is detrimental to us all. But it is particularly distressing for the thousands of innocent seafarers affected."

(Reuters and staff)