Three merchant ships have been struck in and around the strait of Hormuz, including a Thai registered bulk carrier that caught fire after leaving a port in the UAE, forcing crew members to evacuate for their safety.
The Mayuree Naree was struck on Wednesday by “two projectiles of unknown origin”, its owners said, as it sailed about 11 nautical miles north of Oman, marking the end of a four-day lull of attacks in the strategic waterway.
A fire broke out in the ship’s engine room and had to be extinguished. Twenty crew members were evacuated by the Omani navy, while a skeleton crew of three remained on the damaged vessel awaiting rescue.
The strait has in effect been closed since the beginning of the month after the US and Israeli attack on Iran prompted Tehran to retaliate across the region. Only a handful of vessels are confirmed as having risked making the crossing.
About one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas passes through the strait, and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said earlier this week it would not allow even “one litre of oil” to leave the region if US-Israeli attacks continued.
The two other vessels struck were only lightly affected. ONE Majesty, a Japanese container ship, was hit by an unknown projectile 28 miles (45km) north-west of Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE, sustaining minor damage above the waterline.
A bulk carrier, the Marshall Islands-flagged Star Gwyneth, was struck about 30 miles (50km) north-west of Dubai, to the west of the strait, damaging its hull in the hold area while at anchor. In both cases, no serious crew injuries were reported.
“Get ready for oil to be $200 a barrel, because the oil price depends on regional security, which you have destabilised,” said Ebrahim Zolfaqari, a spokesperson for Iran’s military command. Oil prices, which shot up briefly to nearly $120 a barrel on Monday, have since settled at about $90 amid hopes the war will end shortly.
US media reported Iran had begun laying a dozen or so mines in the strait, though the French president, Emmanuel Macron, said he had had no confirmation of this. Such an operation would most likely be carried out using naval or Revolutionary Guards speed vessels or any midget submarines that had survived repeated US targeting.
Sidharth Kaushal, a naval expert with the Royal United Services Institute, said: “Mining is a threat, not because the Iranians can physically close the strait (most mine-laying vessels can be struck, especially if they have no traffic to hide in) but rather because it only takes a few to keep insurers nervous.”
On Tuesday, Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social that “if Iran has put out any mines in the Hormuz strait, and we have no reports of them doing so, we want them removed, IMMEDIATELY!” Less than two hours later, the US military released unclassified footage of attacks on mine-laying vessels.
The US military said it had attacked and destroyed 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the strait of Hormuz as part of a broader strategy of knocking out the country’s navy and ability to threaten international shipping.
Adm Bradley Cooper, the commander of the US Central Command, said the US had struck 5,500 targets in Iran, an increase of 500 on the previous day, and “more than 60 ships”. Iranian civilians were warned to stay away from civilian ports, where it said that the country’s military was operating.
There have been initial discussions about the US navy convoying oil tankers through the strait, but there has been no sign of a patrol mission emerging as the conflict remains at a high pitch. France had said it wants to participate in a convoy once the worst fighting subsides but UK has suggested it believes air protection more relevant.
At a defence department briefing, the top US general, Dan Caine, addressed the possibility of the US navy escorting vessels through the strait. “We’re looking at a range of options there, and we’ll figure out how to solve problems as they come to us,” he told reporters.
When asked on Wednesday how the US intended to ensure security in the strait, Trump told reporters: “I think you’re going to see great safety, and it’s going to be very, very quickly,” but he gave no details.
The strait at Hormuz is just 21 miles (34km) wide at its narrowest point, with the shipping lane just 2 miles (3.2km) wide in either direction. Oil and gas exports from countries bordering the Persian Gulf typically need to pass through the strait to reach export markets around the world though there are some alternatives.
On Tuesday, Amin Nasser, the president and chief executive of Saudi Arabia’s oil company Aramco, said tankers were being rerouted to avoid the strait, and that the company’s east-west pipeline would reach its full capacity this week of 7m barrels a day being brought to the Red Sea port of Yanbu.
