Two Filipino crew members were killed after a Saudi-flagged oil tanker came under attack while sailing through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Saudi Arabia’s national shipping company.
Bahri, the Saudi shipping firm that operates the vessel, identified the tanker as SIDR and said the incident occurred late Monday while the ship was transiting the strategically important waterway.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the company confirmed that the vessel had been involved in a security incident and announced the deaths of two Filipino seafarers.
“Bahri confirms that its vessel SIDR was involved in a security incident while transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” the company said, confirming “the loss of its two Filipino seafarers”.
The incident was first reported by Marisks, a Greek maritime security and risk management firm, which said unidentified projectiles struck two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz overnight between Monday and Tuesday.
The two vessels were reportedly carrying a combined two million barrels of crude oil after loading at Juaymah, on Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast, the previous week, according to data from Kpler.
The circumstances surrounding the attack remained unclear, with competing accounts emerging amid renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Wednesday that two oil tankers caught fire after allegedly striking mines while passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The development comes amid escalating tensions in the Gulf, following renewed US military action against Iran and retaliatory attacks by Tehran, which have largely targeted American assets in the region.
The Strait of Hormuz has become a major flashpoint in the confrontation because of its importance to global energy supplies. A significant portion of the world’s oil shipments passes through the narrow waterway, making any disruption to commercial shipping a major concern for international energy markets.
Iran has accused some vessels of attempting to bypass its preferred transit route and has indicated that it intends to impose service charges on ships using the waterway.
The latest incidents have further complicated efforts to restore stability in the region. The strategic waterway had remained open to commercial shipping before the current conflict, but attacks and restrictions on vessels have increasingly disrupted maritime traffic.
Previous attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz also contributed to the breakdown of an April ceasefire between the United States and Iran, adding to concerns that continued incidents could further escalate the conflict and threaten international shipping.
