Two oil supertankers were struck by unknown projectiles in quick succession while transiting outbound through the Strait of Hormuz late Monday, maritime security consultant Marisks said, in the latest escalation of violence targeting commercial shipping through the world’s most critical oil chokepoint.
The Senegal Prosperity, a supertanker operated by South Korean shipping firm Sinokor, was hit by three projectiles while traveling east of Oman, Marisks said in a statement. A second tanker operated by Saudi shipping company Bahri was struck within minutes at approximately the same location. Both vessels were exiting the Persian Gulf when the attacks occurred, according to tracking data reviewed by shipping intelligence firm Kpler. Neither vessel reported casualties at the time of the initial reports.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations, a British military monitoring body, confirmed earlier that one tanker reported being struck by three unknown projectiles while completing an outbound transit of the strait. It did not initially identify the vessel. The attacks came just hours after US and Iranian forces exchanged direct strikes in the same waterway, marking the first military clash between the two adversaries in approximately a month.
Oil Prices Surge on Supply Fears
The twin tanker attacks sent crude oil prices sharply higher in overnight trading. Brent crude, the international benchmark, surged past $92 per barrel, a gain of nearly 4 percent from Friday’s close. West Texas Intermediate rose above $89, up more than 4.5 percent. Murban crude, the benchmark for Gulf exports, spiked above $106 per barrel, reflecting the acute premium placed on barrels that can be loaded outside the conflict zone.
The price spike reflected renewed anxiety about the security of oil transit through the strait, which handled roughly one-fifth of global oil supply before the Iran war began in late February. Visible commodity vessel transits through the waterway had already fallen to just five per day over the weekend, according to Kpler data, down from dozens of daily transits before the conflict.
The attacks on commercial tankers represent a qualitative shift in the conflict. While previous incidents involved military exchanges between US and Iranian forces or targeted strikes on port infrastructure, the simultaneous hit on two large commercial vessels suggests a widening of the threat envelope to neutral shipping. Neither Iran nor any other party immediately claimed responsibility for the projectile strikes, leaving the identity and motivation of the attackers unclear.
Months of Hormuz Disruption
The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman, is the single most important chokepoint for global oil trade. Approximately 20 million barrels of crude oil and millions of tons of liquefied natural gas pass through it daily under normal conditions. Iran effectively closed the strait in early March 2026, triggering the sharpest oil price spike in decades, with Brent briefly exceeding $126 per barrel.
Partial reopenings have occurred intermittently, but shipping through the corridor remains severely disrupted. Insurance premiums for tankers transiting the strait have soared to levels not seen since the early days of the conflict, and many shipowners have rerouted cargoes around the Cape of Good Hope or through Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline, which has limited spare capacity of roughly 2.4 million barrels per day.
Monday’s military clash between US and Iranian forces was the first direct exchange since late July. US forces struck Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island as Tehran prepared to lay mines across the shipping lane, while Iran retaliated with missiles aimed at US military bases in Jordan and the UAE. President Trump subsequently threatened further strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure, raising the prospect of a sustained escalation that could last weeks or months.
Shipping Industry on Edge
The attacks on the Senegal Prosperity and the Bahri tanker are expected to further tighten the already constricted flow of oil through the strait. Shipping managers and energy traders said the incidents would likely push insurance costs even higher and could deter some vessel operators from attempting transits altogether, further reducing the already minimal volume of oil moving through the chokepoint.
Earlier in the day, Iranian media reported that a Saudi oil tanker had been stopped in the strait, though Saudi officials did not immediately confirm the report. The pattern of escalating attacks on commercial vessels, combined with the resumption of direct US-Iran military hostilities, has raised the prospect of a prolonged disruption to global energy supply chains that some analysts warn could push Brent crude toward $100 per barrel.
The disruption is already rippling through global energy markets. China’s liquefied natural gas imports are projected to drop 18 percent in August as soaring prices deter buyers. Asian spot LNG prices hit a five-month high on Tuesday as the Hormuz blockage continued to restrict supply flows from Qatar, the world’s second-largest LNG exporter. Qatar declared force majeure on LNG deliveries in late August, a measure that typically signals an inability to fulfill contractual obligations due to circumstances beyond a company’s control.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has limited ability to compensate for lost Hormuz throughput, as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, and the UAE – all major OPEC producers – depend heavily on the strait for their export routes. Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline provides a partial bypass, but its capacity is insufficient to handle the full volume of Gulf exports that normally transit through Hormuz. The vulnerability of the global oil supply chain to a prolonged closure of the strait has underscored decades of warnings from energy security analysts about overreliance on a single critical chokepoint for the world’s most important commodity.
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