By: OrePulse

Iran said on October 13 that it would treat as hostile any merchant vessel that disables its identification and tracking systems during a transit of the Strait of Hormuz it has not authorized. The statement followed a string of attacks on commercial vessels on October 11 in which, alongside tankers, a containership was also hit.

UKMTO, the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency, said four retrospective alerts issued on October 12 covered three tankers and a containership struck a day earlier. Those alerts raised the total number of reported vessel incidents for October 11 to six, the agency said, spanning a crude tanker, a product tanker, a third tanker and a containership. An unidentified projectile hit the containership as it was entering the strait, UKMTO said, while the three tankers were struck during outbound transits. UKMTO said it had not yet disclosed the vessels' identities or the extent of the damage, and that investigations into the circumstances were continuing.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said separately that it had attacked a very large crude carrier, or VLCC, that it said was attempting to transit the strait without authorization. The Guard released footage said to show fire damage to the vessel, identified as the 298,800-deadweight-ton Al Maqam, owned by ADNOC Logistics & Services. ADNOC declined to comment on the incident. Whether the vessel the Guard described matches one of the incidents UKMTO listed, or represents a separate case, has not been established.

UKMTO also said a tanker anchored near Sohar, on Oman's coast, was struck by a drone on October 11. It was not immediately known how the crew had fared or how extensively the vessel was damaged, though local authorities in Oman helped evacuate those aboard, UKMTO said. Two Indian seafarers remained missing after the strike, which hit the Nicaragua-flagged tanker Petro Dolphin, while nine other crew members were rescued.

The latest incidents followed an American airstrike on October 10 against the Panama-flagged tanker Ocean Molica in the Gulf of Oman. Washington said the vessel had been attempting to breach a U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports.

Taken together, the incidents between October 10 and October 13 span the Strait of Hormuz, the wider Gulf of Oman and waters off Oman's coast. UKMTO said it has tallied at least 18 attacks on commercial vessels reported across the region this month. The agency continues to advise vessels transiting the area to exercise caution and to report any suspicious activity.