The British Maritime Agency recently reported an increase in attacks on ships in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.
Published on October 8, 2026
A number of casualties have been reported after an oil tanker sailing off the northern coast of Qatar was hit by multiple projectiles, Britain’s Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said.
The ship was hit by several projectiles 94 kilometers (58 miles) north of Madinat ash Shamal, the UKMTO said on Wednesday. The incident comes as Britain’s maritime agency reported a recent increase in attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
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The UKMTO did not say how many people were killed or injured in this latest attack, adding that authorities were investigating. The origin of the ship has not been specified.
An attack on a ship in the middle of the Gulf is unusual. The Maritime Executive, a commercial shipping publication, said it was the first reported attack on an oil tanker in the western half of the Gulf in weeks.
Qatar has not commented on the reported attack, which is within its exclusive economic zone.
Ships have been targeted most often in the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway linking the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman.
Before the U.S.-Israel war against Iran began on Feb. 28, the strait typically handled about 125 large commercial ships a day, and shipments passing through it accounted for about 20 percent of the world’s supplies of crude oil and liquefied natural gas.
In retaliation for the US-Israeli attacks, Iran effectively closed the strait, while Washington maintained a blockade on Iranian ports.
The UKMTO said on Tuesday there had been nine attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz this month, accounting for half of September’s total in the waterway and Gulf combined.
Despite the attacks, oil exports from the Middle East have in recent weeks reached, and according to provisional data, even exceeded, their pre-war levels.
The seven-day rolling average of Middle East crude exports reached 18.3 million barrels per day (bpd) on September 30, compared with an average of about 18 million bpd in the 12 months before the war, according to Kpler, a data company.
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