28 confirmed attacks on ships in Hormuz in October exceed March peak
Key Facts
There were 28 confirmed and reported attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz in October through the 23rd of the month, surpassing the March total, according to a Reuters report published that day. The figure puts October at the highest monthly level since the war began, based on the comparison in the report. It reflects an increase in reported incidents within the scope of the count, while other reports document conflict-related incidents using different criteria. The tally of attacks on ships in the strait therefore differs from the total of conflict-related maritime incidents tracked by other organizations.
On Friday, October 30, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said a vessel had been struck by an unknown projectile south of Lavan Island and that its crew was safe, according to the Associated Press. The report did not identify the vessel as a crude oil tanker or say it was transiting the strait on its way out. In a separate incident near Oman’s Musandam Governorate, Oman said it had evacuated 25 crew members from a Panama-flagged tanker after it was attacked and caught fire. The incident occurred 1.6 nautical miles off the governorate’s coast. The two events show that reports on the same day covered different locations and vessels, and should not be combined into a single account of an incident involving a particular tanker.
The Associated Press reported that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said four oil tankers had been hit by mines and caught fire, including a tanker carrying more than 2 million barrels of oil. The agency was unable to verify Iran’s claim regarding the first three vessels. That announcement remains separate from incidents reported by maritime authorities or those Oman said it had responded to. Differences in the sources and scope of reports also mean that comparisons between their figures require specifying whether they count attacks on ships or broader maritime incidents. The claim alone therefore does not establish the number of confirmed attacks during the month.
The increase in attacks coincided with continued vessel traffic through the strait, although transits declined during the period covered by transit data. A total of 104 vessels not linked to Iran transited between October 5 and 11, a period in which there were 12 attacks, according to figures cited by USNI News. The number of transits in the previous week was 126, indicating a decline in weekly traffic alongside the attacks. The transit figures do not mean shipping stopped; vessels not linked to Iran continued to use the passage during the same period. These figures combine two different measures—transit activity and the number of attacks—to track what shipping faced during the week.
A maritime analyst at the Center for Maritime Analytics said attacks on ships in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz were pushing up prices for diesel and refined petroleum products. He added that shipping companies had become willing to accept the risks of transiting, indicating that traffic continued despite security concerns. These risks matter for Gulf exports because the strait is a key route for oil shipments, while the analyst said pipelines themselves were vulnerable. He added that there were no alternative routes capable of carrying the same volume of oil that passes through the strait. The analyst thus linked maritime security, petroleum product prices and the limited alternatives for transporting the same volumes.
The tally of attacks does not match the total number of conflict-related maritime incidents; each organization has a different monitoring scope and reporting method. Incident reports also sometimes rely on voluntary reports from vessels, meaning published figures may not include every event. On Friday, the Associated Press reported the British center’s alert that a vessel had been struck south of Lavan, as Oman announced the evacuation of the tanker’s crew near Musandam. The October report counting 28 attacks recorded incidents through October 23 and, based on the available evidence, does not provide a confirmed final total for the entire month. A sound comparison therefore depends on the date of each count and the incidents it includes.