Three Tanker Ships Attacked Near Strait of Hormuz in a Day, One Hit

JAKARTA - Three tanker ships were reportedly attacked while crossing the area near the Strait of Hormuz in one day. There were no casualties in the three separate incidents.

Xinhua, quoted Tuesday, July 7, reported that the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations or UKMTO received reports of attacks on tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday night to Tuesday, July 7.

In the first incident, an oil tanker was hit by an unknown projectile on the left side of the ship. The attack caused a fire.

The report was received by UKMTO on Monday at 21.19 UTC. The incident occurred about 8 nautical miles east of Limah, Oman, as the ship was heading south.

A second incident was reported on Tuesday. A tanker was hit again by an unknown projectile and is believed to have suffered structural damage.

A third attack was reported to the UKMTO on Tuesday at 13.05 UTC. In this incident, another tanker suffered minor structural damage after being hit by a drone.

Despite the damage, the ship continued its journey to the next destination port.

UKMTO did not report any casualties in the three attacks. There was no information in the report about who was responsible for the attacks.

Xinhua said, according to a source familiar with the matter, the identities of two of the three ships have been confirmed. One of them is a crude oil tanker with a Saudi Arabian flag. The other is a liquefied natural gas tanker or LNG tanker with a Qatari flag.

LNG is a liquid natural gas that is usually transported using special ships.

The identity of the third ship was not mentioned in the report.