Kpler records at least 18 attacks in two weeks as shipping targeted near Hormuz

Key Facts

Ship-tracking company Kpler recorded at least 18 attacks on vessels over two weeks, Reuters reported on 21 October 2026, as attacks on shipping near the Strait of Hormuz widened. The company gave the tally in a note issued on Monday covering reported attacks over the preceding two weeks. In a report on shipping incidents, Reuters said a container ship and a dry bulk carrier had sunk near the strait. It said the vessels were hit by projectiles in separate incidents. An Agence France-Presse report published on 20 October 2026 had cited Iran's Revolutionary Guards as claiming that their naval mines stopped 3 tankers attempting to cross Hormuz. According to the account carried by the agency, the tankers took routes Tehran considers illegal. That claim places naval mines among the means used to target tanker traffic, alongside the projectile strikes reported by Reuters.

The passage's importance to energy trade is underscored by International Energy Agency estimates for the period before the war, when it accounted for about 25% of global seaborne oil trade. Asia was the destination for 80% of flows through it, according to the agency, making Asian buyers the main destination for oil passing through the strait. Regarding alternatives to the sea passage, the agency estimates available pipeline capacity capable of diverting crude flows away from Hormuz at between 3.5 and 5.5 million barrels per day. This estimate concerns available capacity to reroute crude through alternative pipelines. In an assessment published in March 2026, the U.S. Energy Information Administration identified Saudi Aramco's East-West pipeline and the Abu Dhabi pipeline in the United Arab Emirates as routes bypassing the strait. It estimated the capacity the two pipelines could jointly provide during supply disruptions at about 4.7 million barrels per day. These pipelines constitute the overland alternative covered by the international and U.S. estimates for diverting crude flows away from the sea passage.

In the oil market, Brent crude futures settled at $108.82 a barrel on Wednesday, 21 October 2026, according to Reuters. They rose 0.03% at settlement in a session that preceded the claim of ships being targeted cited in the original report. On U.S. inventories, the Energy Information Administration issued its weekly report on the same day. The report covered the week ended 16 October 2026, the data period reflected in the inventory figures. Reuters cited the agency as saying U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 3.06 million barrels that week. Total inventories stood at 412.5 million barrels after the decline. The release of the inventory draw data thus coincided with the session in which Brent settled slightly higher.

On the military front, Reuters cited a U.S. military official as saying the Revolutionary Guards had begun using unarmed spotters in small boats to identify potential targets. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said potential targets included U.S. Navy ships. Diplomatic efforts over the passage's security were addressed in a statement from the British prime minister's office on the prime minister's meeting with the sultan of Oman on 21 October 2026. The office said the two sides agreed on the need to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. The statement identified easing pressure on global supply chains as the aim of this shared position, saying the two leaders agreed on "the need to keep the strait open to ease pressure on global supply chains."