UK Maritime Trade Operations reports two vessel attacks in Strait of Hormuz within 24 hours
Back-to-back strikes on tankers in one of the world's most critical shipping chokepoints signal a worsening security environment for global trade
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 pressure
The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow passage between Iran and Oman through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply flows on any given day.
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UKMTO, which operates around the clock from Portsmouth with a liaison office in Dubai, has been logging a rising number of incidents through 2026. The uptick follows an escalation in geopolitical tensions involving Iran, the US, and Israel that reignited at the end of February 2026. Daily vessel transits through the strait have dropped sharply from a pre-conflict average of approximately 130 ships per day.
UKMTO has issued multiple advisories throughout September alone. The monitoring body serves as a critical communications bridge between naval forces and merchant vessels, providing real-time threat assessments to ships navigating the region.
Why this pattern matters for global markets
So far, the September attacks have not caused a dramatic disruption to shipping operations or triggered a major repricing in energy markets, with investigations into these maritime events still in progress.
Maritime insurance premiums for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz have already been under upward pressure as the security situation deteriorated through 2026. Rerouting around the Horn of Africa adds thousands of nautical miles, weeks of transit time, and significant fuel costs.
The decline in daily transits from around 130 vessels suggests that some shipping operators have already started rerouting. The geopolitical dynamics driving the violence, tensions between Iran, the US, and Israel that escalated in late February 2026, show few signs of cooling.