Two supertankers carrying Saudi crude oil were struck by unknown projectiles within minutes of each other while transiting outbound through the Strait of Hormuz late on Monday, according to shipping intelligence firms Marisks and Kpler.
The near-simultaneous attacks represent a further escalation in the threat environment within the strategic waterway, which has become a focal point of the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict that has been locked in a stalemate for six months.
Details of the Attacks
The Saudi-flagged tanker Sidr, operated by Saudi Arabia’s Bahri shipping company, was struck while sailing northeast of Khasab, Oman. Eight minutes later, the Senegal Prosperity, operated by South Korea’s Sinokor Group, was hit by three projectiles while traveling east of the same region.
Both vessels had each loaded approximately 2 million barrels of Saudi crude at the Juaymah terminal the previous week, according to Kpler data. Saudi Aramco had only recently resumed oil loadings and sales from inside the strait in August.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency separately reported three projectiles striking a tanker in the same location as it sailed out of the strait, in what appeared to be one of the same incidents.
Oil Markets React
The flare-up has put global oil prices back on an upward trajectory. Iranian and U.S. blockades of the Strait of Hormuz have sharply curbed energy exports from the Gulf as both sides have sought to assert authority over the critical waterway.
Before the conflict, an estimated 120 to 140 vessels crossed through the strait each day, roughly half of them oil tankers moving approximately 20 million barrels per day. At the height of the war, traffic through the waterway collapsed to as few as two tankers daily.
Trump Hints at Further Strikes
President Trump said Monday that he might order further strikes on Iran, describing the conflict as a “relatively little war” that could be set to intensify militarily. This came despite his administration announcing last week a shift to “economic warfare.”
The weekend saw the U.S. launch its first strikes on Iran in a month, targeting rocket launchers on an island in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian media also reported that a Saudi oil tanker was stopped while transiting through the southern corridor of the strait earlier on Tuesday.
Neither Bahri, the operator of the Sidr, nor Sinokor, the operator of the Senegal Prosperity, immediately responded to requests for comment on the attacks.
