Two oil tankers hit by unidentified projectiles in Hormuz — UKMTO confirms the attacks, seven ships hit this week

Two commercial oil tankers were hit by unidentified projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz region on Friday, the British maritime monitoring agency UKMTO announced, according to Al Jazeera’s reporting.

In the first attack, the ship was hit as it was exiting the Strait of Hormuz, causing a small fire and a complete power outage on board. The crew managed to put out the fire and restore the basic systems, allowing the ship to continue sailing, UKMTO announced. According to TradeWinds, it is the 46,000-ton tanker Uhud, owned by the Sharjah-based Emirates Shipping company and sailing under the Panamanian flag. The British agency said there are no casualties and no environmental impact.

A few hours later, a second oil tanker reported it was hit by an unknown projectile east of Oman. The crew remained unharmed and inspections found no structural cracks or leaks in the surrounding waters, according to UKMTO. Regional authorities have launched investigations into the origin of both attacks, without yet identifying the type of projectiles or the perpetrators.

The incidents raise to seven the number of tankers hit this week, after a month of recovery in oil transit from the Gulf — the week ranks as the fourth most violent in terms of the number of ships hit since the start of the war seven months ago, according to data compiled by TradeWinds. The Strait of Hormuz, through which around a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied gas passed before the outbreak of the war in February, remains at the heart of the conflict: Tehran is blocking the passage of commercial ships, while Washington has responded with a counter-blockade of Iranian ports.