A tanker sailing off the north coast of Qatar reported being struck “by multiple projectiles”, causing an unspecified number of casualties, the UKMTO maritime agency said on Wednesday (October 7, 2026).
Some vessels continue to ply the strait and U.S. media has reported on American efforts to protect ships on a route hugging the coast of Oman. It did not specify the origin of the ship. Ships in the Gulf and those attempting to transit the strait, the only way in or out of the oil-rich region for vessels, have come under repeated attack since the U.S. and Israel sparked the West Asia war in late February. Iran has blockaded the strait ever since and fired on vessels it accuses of unauthorised crossings. The United States has set up its own counterblockade of Iranian ports and occasionally fires on vessels linked to Tehran. Diplomatic efforts to resolve the war, which began with a massive wave of surprise U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran, have been deadlocked for months.
The incident took place 51 nautical miles (94 kilometres) off the coast of the tiny Gulf state, the British agency said, adding that authorities were investigating. The reported attack on Wednesday (October 7, 2026) was around 500 kilometres (300 miles) from the Strait of Hormuz. It has also bombed Iranian targets in retaliation for Tehran’s attacks on ships, although there have been no such reported strikes since September 1.
Hormuz is vital to the world economy, with around a fifth of the planet’s oil and liquefied natural gas passing through the strait before the war began.
