LNG Carrier Al Mayeda Targeted in Gulf; All 25 Crew Members Safe
Key Facts
Nakilat said the LNG carrier Al Mayeda was struck by unidentified objects while transiting the Arabian Gulf on the evening of Friday, October 30, 2026. Gulf Times reported the company’s statement published on the Qatar Stock Exchange, which did not identify the objects or those responsible for the incident. Nakilat said no crew members were injured and the incident had no environmental impact. The vessel is safe and operational, the company said, but the incident’s impact remains under assessment. The company’s announcement put crew safety first, while the assessment of the consequences for the vessel is still incomplete.
Nakilat said it is coordinating directly with the vessel and its crew, as well as the relevant maritime security authorities in the region, to ensure the seafarers’ safety, and that it is monitoring the situation closely. The statement did not give a timeline for completing the assessment or provide further details about the nature of the impact being examined. The vessel therefore remains in the condition described by the company—as operational—while the assessment continues. The published statement contained no information about shipping schedules or any changes to them. The absence of supply details in the statement does not establish that shipping movements were unaffected.
In a statement reported by The Economic Times, India’s minister for ports and shipping said all 25 crew members were safe, including 6 Indian nationals. The Indian statement offered an independent confirmation that the seafarers were safe, while giving the crew’s total number and the size of the Indian group among them. The minister said the government was monitoring the situation continuously and remained in close contact with the ship management company to ensure the safety of the Indian seafarers. The government’s communication is taking place alongside Nakilat’s coordination, which the company said involves the vessel, its crew and the relevant maritime authorities. The Indian statement gave no details about the assessment of the incident’s impact on the carrier’s operations or cargoes.
Nakilat says Al Mayeda is a Q-Max LNG carrier with a cargo capacity of 266,000 cubic meters. The company said in 2020 that the vessel is wholly owned by Nakilat and chartered to QatarGas, and that its technical management is handled by Nakilat Shipping Qatar Ltd. This background directly links the carrier to Nakilat and Qatar’s LNG shipping system, but does not establish the incident’s current impact on operations or delivery schedules. In its incident statement, the company confirmed only that the vessel was safe and operational and that the assessment was ongoing. The published information reporting the statement included no estimate of losses or the assessment’s duration.
The targeting of the carrier comes amid maritime disruption previously covered by EL7 in reports on shipping and energy in the region. On September 28, EL7 reported that QatarEnergy had extended force majeure on LNG cargoes through the end of November 2026. A story published by the platform on October 1 also recorded that three oil tankers were targeted with projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz. These events provide regional context for the incident, but do not attribute it to any party or establish that the Al Mayeda incident disrupted supplies. Nakilat did not announce details about cargoes or the incident’s impact on their schedules in its published statement.
Earlier reports by the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency recorded other incidents during October. On October 16, UKMTO reported an attack on a tanker 78 nautical miles northeast of Jubail, saying the crew was safe, while the full extent of the damage and environmental impact remained unknown at the time of the report. On October 17, the agency reported that a small boat carrying 7 people fired two shots toward an LNG carrier, before the carrier’s security team fired two warning shots and the boat changed course. On October 20, it also recorded an incident 30 nautical miles southeast of Al-Faw, Iraq, describing the report as delayed. These reports show a series of separate maritime incidents in the region during the month, without establishing a link between them and the Qatari carrier incident.