UK Maritime Trade Operations said in Advisory 068-26 on Saturday that a tanker was struck by an unknown projectile in the port bow about six nautical miles east of Oman, near the southeastern approaches to the Strait of Hormuz. The crew was reported safe, no environmental impact was observed, and the vessel continued toward its next port of call. Neither UKMTO nor the military authorities it cited identified the ship or the type of projectile.
The report came hours after U.S. Central Command said American forces had intercepted multiple Iranian one way attack drones aimed at commercial shipping in the same waters. CENTCOM said all the drones were downed and that traffic through the strait continues unimpeded. Whether the drone wave and the projectile strike are linked has not been confirmed by either CENTCOM or UKMTO.
The location matters because it sits along the so called Omani route, a recently disclosed U.S. coordinated corridor that has kept a limited number of vessels moving through Hormuz during the war with Iran. INTERTANKO this month outlined a tightly controlled nighttime transit system that relies on electronic silence, designated reporting procedures, and direct coordination with U.S. military authorities. President Donald Trump has acknowledged the covert effort and claimed hundreds of vessels have crossed under it.
This appears to be the first publicly reported case of a vessel being hit while operating inside that corridor, and it will sharpen concerns at owners, charterers, and war risk insurers who have been weighing whether the Omani route offers a real margin of safety. IMO Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez warned earlier in the week that there is no safe passage through Hormuz and urged masters to run rigorous risk assessments before entering the area. The strike undercuts the message from Washington that commercial traffic is moving freely under U.S. escort.