Key facts
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy counted 37 ships attacked in October, the highest monthly total since the war began.
- Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy said three tankers were hit on November 8 for using unauthorized routes through the strait.
- The Navig8 Messi is managed by Navig8, majority owned by ADNOC Logistics & Services; neither replied to Reuters requests for comment.
- US Central Command said a US aircraft fired on and disabled a St Kitts-flagged cargo vessel that had visited an Iranian port.
- The International Maritime Organization has confirmed 130 incidents in the region since late February, with at least 25 seafarers killed.
- The Saudi Energy Ministry said debris caused limited damage to an Aramco building in Riyadh, with no injuries or fatalities.
Attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz showed little sign of abating in November, after 37 ships were attacked in October, the highest monthly total since the war began, according to data from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Videos posted on social media on Sunday and verified by Reuters showed the Navig8 Messi, a Singapore-flagged, medium-sized refined products tanker, on fire near the coast of Oman. An image captured by the European Union's Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite on Sunday showed a large cloud of black smoke at the same location. It was one of three tankers hit on Sunday for using "unauthorised routes" through the strait, Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported, citing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy. The vessel is managed by Navig8, majority owned by ADNOC Logistics & Services. Neither replied to emailed Reuters requests for comment.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy said in a separate statement that two tankers caught fire after hitting naval mines on the "unauthorized route" in the strait. Another tanker was struck northeast of Oman's Lima, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said on Tuesday. UKMTO did not say who struck it.
US forces continued to enforce a naval blockade of Iranian ports. In the latest incident, a US military aircraft fired on and disabled a St Kitts-flagged cargo vessel that tried to depart regional waters after visiting an Iranian port on Saturday, US Central Command said.