28 Attacks on Shipping in and Around Hormuz in October as Freight Costs Rise
Key Facts
The Washington Institute recorded 28 confirmed and reported attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and surrounding waters during October, Reuters reported on Oct. 23. The institute's total number of recorded attacks reached 113 since the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran began on Feb. 28. October's tally covers the strait and surrounding waters; it does not mean that 28 ships were struck inside the strait alone. Reuters said the International Maritime Organization had recorded 120 incidents in the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Middle East since the conflict began. Reports have increased as oil tankers continue to transit, but at high operating cost and with rising security risks.
Price data show Brent closed at $116.72 a barrel on Oct. 23, while West Texas Intermediate closed at $103.27, according to EL7 data. These prices are for Brent and West Texas crude and do not establish a price for Nigeria's Bonny Light crude. In a Reuters report published the same day, daily freight rates exceeded $1 million. Regional producers also offered larger discounts on their crude compared with dated Brent, encouraging shipowners to load cargoes in the Gulf.
The Associated Press said tankers continued to carry oil through the strait under U.S. military protection. Spot tanker charter rates rose to hundreds of thousands of dollars a day, the agency said in a report published on Oct. 22. It noted that ship-to-ship oil transfers can take several days. These costs show that continued shipping traffic does not mean transport operations are proceeding under normal conditions. The need for protection and additional transport arrangements adds to the burden on cargo owners and tanker operators.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations service, or UKMTO, recorded a total of 135 incidents linked to the U.S.-Iran conflict through Oct. 16, Reuters reported. The service said it was difficult to monitor the full picture because of a lack of voluntary reports from shipping companies. In an update to its list through Oct. 22, the International Maritime Organization reported that 24 seafarers had been killed in confirmed incidents linked to the Middle East crisis. The organization said on Aug. 28 that as many as 400 ships carrying about 6,000 seafarers had been unable to leave the Gulf safely since the conflict began on Feb. 28. These figures reflect the crisis's widening impact on seafarers and shipping traffic in the Gulf.
The strait's importance to energy trade is underscored by the volume of flows that pass through it under normal conditions. Oil flows through Hormuz averaged 20 million barrels a day in 2024, equivalent to about 20% of global petroleum liquids consumption, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. But flows fell to 4.9 million barrels a day in the second quarter of 2026, compared with 21.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2025, the agency said. In a report published in September, the EIA forecast that the Brent spot price would average about $90 a barrel in the second half of 2026. It linked its expectation of lower prices later to rising Middle East exports and the return of idled production, estimating an average of $77 in the second quarter of 2027.