Vessel struck by unknown projectile in Strait of Hormuz as Iran's Guards say two tankers hit mines on unauthorised route
Britain's UKMTO agency reported a vessel struck by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, while Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said two oil tankers exploded after hitting mines on what it called an unauthorised route, in a day of conflicting accounts from the vital waterway.
A vessel was struck by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, Britain's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency reported, in the latest incident in a waterway that has become one of the most dangerous shipping passages in the world since war returned to the region in February.
UKMTO said the master of a merchant vessel had relayed a Mayday call over VHF Channel 16 stating that another vessel had been struck by an unknown projectile in the strait. The agency, which acts as a link between commercial shipping and military authorities, issued a warning to vessels in the area, urging them to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity while the incident is investigated.
The report did not immediately name the vessel struck on Sunday, nor did it give details of casualties, damage or whether there was any environmental impact. That absence of detail is itself significant: in a strait where claims and counter-claims about shipping incidents have become part of the wider conflict, the first official notice is often deliberately sparse, with fuller accounts emerging only as other agencies, ship operators and coastal states respond.
Later on Sunday, a separate and potentially overlapping account emerged from Tehran. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said two oil tankers had exploded after striking mines while travelling through what it described as an unauthorised route in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian state media. The Guards have repeatedly said vessels must use a designated route through the strait and coordinate their passage with Iran's armed forces, labelling a southern corridor closer to Oman's shores as unauthorised.
It was not immediately clear whether the Iranian claim about the two tankers was connected to the separate incident reported by UKMTO, or whether the two accounts describe different vessels on the same day. That uncertainty was noted by outlets covering both reports, and it reflects a recurring pattern in the Hormuz confrontation: a single day can produce several incidents, claimed by different sides, with overlapping locations and conflicting explanations.
The Sunday reports came after an earlier attack on a Qatari gas tanker that had already been confirmed by Qatar's state news agency. That vessel, the liquefied natural gas carrier Al-Mayeda, belonging to the Qatar Gas Transport Company, was attacked on Friday with unidentified objects while transiting Gulf waters. Qatar said none of the crew was injured, there was no environmental impact, and the ship remained safe and operational.
Taken together, the Friday and Sunday incidents underline how central shipping has become to the wider US-Iran confrontation. Since the war began in February, Iran has been targeting vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Gulf in an effort to assert control over the waterway, while the United States has blockaded Iranian ports in response. Iran says vessels must obtain its permission to transit; Washington has promoted an alternative southern route that Tehran calls illegal.
The stakes are global, not only regional. The Strait of Hormuz normally carries about a fifth of the world's oil, and even a partial disruption sends ripples through energy markets, insurance costs and shipping schedules. Earlier in the week, oil prices rose sharply on concerns about supply disruption in the Middle East, and Gulf states have repeatedly warned that threats to navigation through Hormuz, the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb require coordinated international action.
Diplomacy is running in parallel with the incidents at sea. Qatar, a mediator in the war, has stepped up efforts to revive negotiations between the United States and Iran, and Iran's foreign minister has said discussions with Qatari mediators are continuing over a plan to reopen the strait within two days, provided the United States cooperates. That plan, if it holds, would be the most concrete de-escalation step for shipping since the war began.
For now, however, the waterway remains contested, and the Sunday reports show why mariners and markets are watching every UKMTO warning. Until the vessel in the latest incident is identified, the damage assessed and the relationship — if any — between the projectile report and the mine claim clarified, the strait will stay in the uncertain state it has occupied for months: formally open, practically hazardous, and at the centre of a war whose next phase may be decided as much at sea as at the negotiating table.
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