The incident occurred 63 nautical miles west of Yanbu...

A tanker was struck by an unknown projectile and caught fire about 63 nautical miles west of the Saudi Red Sea port of Yanbu, the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency said on August 23. The strike is the latest in a widening campaign against Saudi-linked shipping in the Red Sea, where Yemen's Houthi group declared a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia on July 20 and has since pursued tankers well north of the Bab el-Mandeb strait, defeating the rerouting that operators had used to avoid its earlier target zone. No casualties were reported, and the crew were safe, UKMTO added in the latest report, suggesting attacks from Houthi forces could be increasing in the area, adding further strain to US efforts to control the Hormuz situation. UKMTO said a company security officer had reported that the vessel was struck by an unknown projectile, causing a fire on the main deck, with no environmental impact recorded. The incident was logged at 6:37 UTC, according to the agency. The attack compounds a squeeze on Saudi export routes that has left both of the region's oil chokepoints shut at once, with the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed since the Iran war began in February and the southern Red Sea under Houthi threat. Riyadh had rerouted the bulk of its crude through the Red Sea terminal at Yanbu to bypass Hormuz, sending that traffic straight into the new embargo zone. Iran's IRNA had earlier relayed UKMTO's account of the incident west of Yanbu. The Houthis have stepped up strikes on Saudi-linked shipping and naval targets in recent weeks under what the group calls a "blockade for blockade" policy. Days earlier, UKMTO reported a separate incident involving a tanker about 136 nautical miles east of the Yemeni port of Mukalla, where six armed men boarded the vessel and diverted it towards Somalia after approaching as the crew sailed west through the Gulf of Aden.

Two ADNOC vessels were attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, with the UAE condemning the incident and calling for attacks to stop.

Medan USA pausar sina attacker mot Iran intensifieras de diplomatiska ansträngningarna mitt i eskalerande regionala proxyattacker och Teherans hot om vedergällning efter anklagelser om att Ukraina låg bakom en tankerattack. Konfliktens rötter, huvudaktörerna och den osäkra vägen framåt visar på en i

Medan USA pausar sina attacker mot Iran intensifieras de diplomatiska ansträngningarna mitt i eskalerande regionala proxyattacker och Teherans hot om vedergällning efter anklagelser om att Ukraina låg bakom en tankerattack. Konfliktens rötter, huvudaktörerna och den osäkra vägen framåt visar på en i

Saudi-owned tanker Encelia catches fire after Red Sea attack as Houthi threats raise concerns over shipping and energy security.

The US military said on July 16 that it had attacked a commercial tanker heading toward Iran’s Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf, in the first publicly announced strike since the United States reinstated a naval blockade targeting Iranian ports and coastal areas earlier this week. In a statement issued overnight, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said an American aircraft fired Hellfire missiles into the smokestack of the Curacao-flagged tanker M/T Belma after the vessel allegedly ignored multiple warnings while sailing in international waters toward Kharg Island. “The ship is no longer transiting to Iran,” CENTCOM said, adding that the vessel was unladen at the time of the strike. According to CENTCOM, the blockade was reinstated at 4 p.m. ET on July 14 and, during the first 24 hours of operations, its forces also redirected two commercial vessels that “complied with US instructions.” The United States has not released evidence supporting its claim that the tanker was trying to break through the blockade. Iran has condemned the US blockade as an act of “piracy” and a violation of international law. Tehran says Washington has breached the terms of a peace memorandum signed in June, under which the two sides agreed to pursue a 60-day diplomatic process following the US-Israeli joint war launched against Iran in late February. The latest incident comes as tensions over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz continue to escalate. Iranian officials have insisted that vessel traffic through the waterway will proceed only under rules set by the Islamic Republic and through routes designated by its armed forces. Kharg Island, the destination identified by CENTCOM, is Iran’s main crude export terminal and is located in the Persian Gulf. The renewed confrontation has already rattled energy markets. Brent crude settled at around $84.51 a barrel on July 16 and US West Texas Intermediate traded near $80, extending gains as traders weighed the risk of wider disruptions to oil flows through the Persian Gulf and nearby shipping lanes. Iran has previously said it exported more than 80mn barrels of crude oil and petroleum products in the 26 days following the signing of the memo, before the US moved to restore the blockade ahead of schedule.