Seatrade-Maritime: Tankers caught at centre of US-Iran escalation spiral

Published by Seatrade-Maritime

The latest escalation of attacks on civilian ships in the Middle East continued overnight, with reports of an attack on a loaded VLCC and of other indicators of potential vessel strikes across the Arabian Gulf.

A tanker master reported a strike on their vessel 28 nm south east of Al-Faw, Iraq; the crew were reported safe and no environmental impact was noted. While it is not clear if the reports are of the same incident, security firm Vanguard Tech reported that Panama-flagged VLCC New Andros was struck by a drone at an anchorage in a similar area. The ship was loaded with around 2m barrels of fuel oil and the attack caused a fire onboard, which was subsequently extinguished by Iraqi response vessels, the company said.

UKMTO also reported a sighting of a vessel listing at anchor off the UAE, “possibly indicating water ingress following an attack from an unknown projectile.” Bunkering firm Peninsula confirmed that its tanker Hercules Star was involved in an incident off Dubai while at anchorage. There was one fatality in the incident, said Peninsula, and one crew member remains missing as a specialist team works to locate them.

Qatar’s Ministry of Interior posted on Twitter that a fire on a marine vessel at Al Wakra Port had been brought under control with no injuries reported, although the vessel’s identity and the cause of the fire were not shared.

The reports across the Gulf follows claims by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy that it had hit two US Navy vessels and eight tankers in the Arabian Gulf in retaliation for US strikes on five Iranian tankers on 8 September.

Iran also claimed to have targeted 10 vessels attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz outside of its approved corridor. As the conflict has raged since 28 February, Iran has frequently overstated the number of attacks it has made on ships, the number of successful strikes, and the damage caused by its attacks.

The reported attacks are further confirmation of an intensifying, dangerous feedback loop emerging for shipping, formed by current Iranian and US positions in their ongoing conflict. In the wake of attacks on US Navy vessels on 5 September, US Central Command said to Iran, “If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost — taking out three of yours.” The Iranian ships targeted by the US retaliatory strikes were civilian tankers.

Iran has warned that US harassment of Iranian shipping would be met with more severe strikes against US ships in the region, and on 8 September the chief of the General Staff of Iranian Armed Forces said attacks on Iranian tankers will be met with attacks on US military bases in the Middle East.

The firm rhetoric from both militaries shows a willingness to target merchant vessels and civilian seafarers as a means to achieve their war goals. The significant change in the past week has been the US Navy’s specific focus on disabling or destroying Iranian oil tankers, even those not attempting to break the US blockade of Iran’s ports.

The US continues to impose a blockade of Iran’s ports while Iran says that the Strait of Hormuz is being monitored and managed by its forces.