Two projectiles hit tanker east of Khafji as Hormuz transits decline
Key Facts
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said an oil tanker sailing southeast in the Gulf was struck by two unidentified projectiles on its port side, 72 nautical miles east of Ras Al Khafji, Saudi Arabia. The incident was off the Saudi coast; the report did not mention a location near Aramco facilities. UKMTO said all crew members were accounted for and no environmental impact had been reported. The report did not identify the tanker or the source of the projectiles. The incident was reported on 2 November 2026, alongside reports of a separate incident involving a tug in the Strait of Hormuz.
In a separate incident, the tug Selat Storm was struck by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, northwest of the Musandam Peninsula, according to a report by The Maritime Executive. The publication said the tug was Emirati-owned and cited security consultancy Vanguard Tech's identification of the vessel as Selat Storm. The incident occurred shortly after 15:00 UTC on 1 November, according to UKMTO. The captain of a passing vessel received a radio distress call from the tug, which was described as partially sinking. The status of its crew was not announced, so there is no confirmed information about injuries or their safety.
Before the two incidents, Qatar's liquefied natural gas tanker Al Mayeda encountered unidentified objects while transiting the Gulf on the evening of 30 October, according to Qatar Gas Transport Company (Nakilat). The company said none of the crew was injured and the incident had no environmental impact. It confirmed the vessel was safe and continuing operations, while the impact of the incident remained under assessment. Nakilat added that it was coordinating directly with the vessel, its crew and the relevant maritime security authorities. This incident differs from the strike on the tug Selat Storm: the Qatari vessel was Al Mayeda, while Selat Storm is a tug owned by Emiratis, and the two incidents occurred on different dates.
This coincided with a sharp decline in recorded traffic through the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend preceding the 2 November report. Five cargo vessels transited on Saturday, and no transits were recorded on Sunday, according to ship-tracking data from Kpler cited by Reuters. The comparison was with 31 transits over the previous weekend, highlighting the decline in observed traffic between the two periods. But some vessels may transit without appearing in the data when they switch off their transponders, according to the Reuters report. Tracking figures therefore may not represent all vessel traffic in the strait.
Recorded traffic remains far below the more than 130 vessels a day that transited the strait before the war that began in February 2026, according to the Reuters report. Before the war, Hormuz handled one-fifth of the world's crude oil and liquefied natural gas shipments. This context highlights the importance of the passage to global energy flows as the number of vessels observed over the weekend declined. The U.S. Maritime Administration said navigational risks and attacks on commercial vessels remain elevated in the Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman. It said the threats include missiles, armed drones and unmanned surface vessels, without attributing the reported incidents to any party.
On the next announced steps, Nakilat said the impact of the Al Mayeda incident remained under assessment and coordination with the vessel, its crew and the relevant maritime security authorities was continuing. The available information did not include a timeline for completing the assessment. Regarding the tanker off Khafji, UKMTO said the crew was accounted for and no environmental impact had been reported, without further details about the investigation or the identity of the projectiles. No information was announced about the condition of the Selat Storm crew after the tug was struck and a report said it was partially sinking. The events comprise three separate incidents between 30 October and 2 November, with varying information released about the vessels and their crews.