Fujairah Energy tanker struck by unknown projectile in Arabian Gulf
Key Facts
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said an oil tanker was struck by an unknown projectile while heading east in the Arabian Gulf on November 10, 2026, in an incident that caused injuries among the crew. The Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) identified the vessel as Fujairah Energy, citing India's shipping minister. UKMTO said some of the injured were taken ashore for medical assistance, while the rest of the crew remained safe and had been accounted for. The report did not specify the number of injured crew members or the nature of their injuries. It also did not say that the tanker was about to enter the Strait of Hormuz, limiting its account to the incident's location in the Arabian Gulf and the vessel's eastward direction.
At the time it issued its report, UKMTO had no assessment of damage to the tanker or of any potential environmental impact. The vessel's condition after being struck therefore remained unclear in the information provided by the authority. The alert gave no details about the type of projectile or who fired it. The authority said officials were investigating the incident, without specifying any findings or an expected completion date in the warning. It urged vessels transiting the area to exercise caution and report any suspicious activity.
The incident comes amid a decline in traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, according to figures reported by Gulf News on November 10, citing UKMTO's latest weekly report. The report recorded 170 outbound transits and 155 inbound transits, figures the newspaper said were about 65% below pre-conflict levels. These were weekly figures cited on November 10, not a measure of shipping traffic on the day of the incident or on November 15. The newspaper also reported that U.S. maritime coordination data recorded about 30 daily transits with U.S. assistance between November 5 and 7. At the same time, it said independent tracking showed daily counts ranging from single digits to the low double digits.
The recent toll of maritime incidents reflects rising risks in regional waterways. According to Gulf News, at least 11 vessels came under attack in and around the Strait of Hormuz during the week ending November 6, and 3 sank. The newspaper reported that UKMTO recorded 88 projectile strikes since hostilities resumed in early July, while noting that most attacks go unreported. The Associated Press also cited the International Maritime Organization as saying that 25 seafarers had died and others had been injured or gone missing in about 134 incidents in the Strait of Hormuz and wider Middle Eastern waters through November 11. These figures place the strike on Fujairah Energy among a series of successive incidents, though each tally covers a different period and area.
Against the backdrop of disrupted shipping, Reuters reported that at least 10 vessels were struck during the first 10 days of November, following 37 attacks in October, the highest monthly toll since the conflict began, according to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, which the agency cited. Reuters said oil prices fell on expectations of de-escalation, despite continuing tanker fires, oil reaching shore and strikes on regional infrastructure; it added that it could not independently verify the reports it covered. Separately, on November 14, the Associated Press cited Iranian state television as saying that 3 oil tankers struck Iranian naval mines and caught fire near the Strait of Hormuz, without details on injuries, the vessels' nationalities or their destinations. Before the war that began in February 2026, more than 130 vessels a day transited the strait, according to a figure reported by Reuters. Following the November 10 incident, UKMTO's guidance to vessels remains to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity as officials continue their investigation.