Saudi oil tanker attacked in Strait of Hormuz, killing two crew members

Two Filipino sailors were killed when Bahri’s Saudi oil tanker SIDR encountered what the company called a security incident while passing through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday evening.

Greek maritime risk-management company Marisks said unidentified projectiles struck two oil tankers in the strait overnight from Monday into Tuesday. Data from Kpler showed that both vessels had loaded two million barrels of crude oil each the previous week at Juaymah port on Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said on Wednesday that two oil tankers caught fire after hitting mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Bahri confirmed the deaths of its two Filipino sailors but did not provide further details in the account.

The attacks came as the United States and Iran resumed hostilities this week. Washington continued its blockade of Iranian ports, while Tehran responded with strikes in the Persian Gulf, mainly targeting U.S. facilities. Iran says it wants to charge service fees and has attacked ships it accuses of trying to bypass its designated route through the waterway.

Shipping through the strait had continued without disruption before the war, but the attacks on commercial vessels have unsettled the route. The account says the conflict has remained deadlocked six months after it began, with Iran keeping the strategic passage closed and the violence undermining a ceasefire agreement signed by the United States and Iran in April.

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Bahri confirms that its vessel SIDR experienced a security-related incident while sailing through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday evening.