KHASAB, Oman: A Strait of Hormuz tanker was struck by three unidentified projectiles while sailing out of the waterway near Oman, UK maritime authorities said, with no casualties reported.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said the incident occurred 17 nautical miles, or about 31 kilometres, east of Khasab. No environmental impact had been reported, and authorities were investigating.
UKMTO Warning 124-26 said the company security officer reported the incident at 20:00 UTC on August 31. That corresponds to midnight on September 1. The agency advised ships to exercise caution.
UKMTO did not identify the tanker or attribute responsibility for the strikes. The incident should not be conflated with separate Iranian claims that another tanker had struck sea mines, which US Central Command denied.
Read: US-Iran Fighting Flares as Iran Strikes Bases in Jordan
Shipping through the strategic waterway remained sharply reduced. Preliminary Kpler tracking data showed about five commodity-vessel transits on Monday.
Compared with a 10-day average of about 14. Four ships entered, and one exited, while no liquid tankers appeared in the tracked traffic.
The attack followed renewed fighting between the United States and Iran. US forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island on Sunday.
Read: MQ-9 Reaper Drone: Iran Says It Shot Down US Aircraft Over Hormuz
US official said Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel were preparing rockets carrying sea mines. Iran subsequently launched missiles toward US military sites in Jordan.
US President Donald Trump later told Fox News that Washington would respond and “hit them hard.” A senior Iranian source separately told Reuters that Tehran viewed the latest exchange as limited but warned of a stronger response to another US attack.
