UK Maritime Trade Operations reports two vessel attacks in Strait of Hormuz within 24 hours

Two commercial vessels were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz within roughly 24 hours of each other, according to UK Maritime Trade Operations, the Royal Navy-linked monitoring body that tracks merchant shipping through some of the world’s most dangerous waters. The second incident, reported around September 21, involved a tanker struck by an unknown projectile. Two crew members sustained minor injuries but the vessel continued its voyage. It followed a drone strike on the Liberia-flagged LPG tanker M.T. Al Maryah on September 20, which hit the ship while it was traveling eastward just outside the strait. What happened to the Al Maryah The M.T. Al Maryah sustained no major damage, its operational capabilities remained intact, and it successfully anchored at the port of Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates. All 19 crew members, including nine Indian nationals, were reported unharmed. These two incidents weren’t isolated. Earlier in September, around September 15, the Panama-flagged tanker El Gaia was attacked in circumstances that proved far more severe. That strike caused a fire onboard and generated reports of missing crew members. The Strait of Hormuz: a bottleneck under pressu...