A tanker sailing toward the Strait of Hormuz was struck by multiple projectiles 51 nautical miles (94km) north of Qatar, and casualties were reported, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency (UKMTO) said. The strike took place off Madinat al-Shamal.
The maritime intelligence firm Vanguard named the ship as the Acers, an oil and chemical tanker registered in Antigua and Barbuda. It was reported carrying cargo on Saturday as it headed for Hormuz, the waterway between the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
Merchant ships have been attacked repeatedly in the region since the US and Israel's war with Iran began in February. The UN's International Maritime Organization (IMO) counts at least 24 seafarers killed in 93 confirmed incidents.
The IMO said the most recent incident with casualties came on September 9. Two sailors were killed that day when the El Gaia, a tanker flying the Panamanian flag, came under attack in the Strait of Hormuz off the northern tip of Oman's Musandam peninsula.
Martin Kelly, head of advisory at EOS Risk Group, said that attack was also the last one reported against a vessel so far west of the strait.
Separately, Vanguard reported a fire on Thursday aboard another tanker roughly 40km off Fujairah, in the Gulf of Oman. The firm said the vessel was probably the Dhalkut, which sails under the Marshall Islands flag. What caused the blaze remains unknown, and UKMTO has reported no incident there.
Analysts at the shipping data company Kpler said crude exports through Hormuz averaged 12 million barrels per day over the past two weeks, about 80% of pre-war levels.
