UKMTO Reports Six Strikes in One Day on Tankers in the Mideast
UK Maritime Trade Operations recorded four previously unreported attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, adding to two earlier reports and bringing the total for October 11 to six. The strikes hit an outbound tanker northeast of the Musandam Peninsula, a container ship at the strait's eastern entrance, a tanker near the north end of the Peninsula, and a product tanker northwest of the Peninsula, with crews reported unharmed or safe. Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Navy released video footage purporting to show an attack on a tanker that was ignoring warnings and switching off its navigation system, and unverified footage of the stern displayed the name of the UAE-owned tanker Al Maqam.
Why it matters: The strikes and the reported slowing of ballast tanker traffic into the Gulf of Oman bear directly on the briefing's maritime security and shipping-chokepoint theme.