UKMTO: unknown projectiles hit two vessels off Oman; IRGC claims Saildrone strike at Hormuz
NEW · Fri. 4:45 p.m. EDT
The UK Maritime Trade Operations center reported that four unknown projectiles struck two vessels about four nautical miles west of Khasab, Oman, near the Strait of Hormuz entrance late Thursday, with a fire on one ship and the second vessel’s status unclear (Warning 133-26). Separately, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said its navy struck a U.S. Saildrone Explorer unmanned surface vessel (hull 5838) at the strait’s entrance, claiming it thwarted an “aggressive mission”; Washington had not confirmed the claim as of Friday reporting. Anadolu Agency, Ship & Bunker, Al Jazeera, and Xinhua carried the dual strands as Hormuz traffic remains depressed and Brent holds above $100.
USS Cape St. George and USS Abraham Lincoln transit the Strait of Hormuz, May 11, 2012. File photograph; not from Thursday’s Khasab or Saildrone reports.
U.S. Navy / Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Alex R. Forster (public domain)
Center-left view
Al Jazeera, Anadolu Agency, and Gulf News stress UKMTO’s unattributed projectile report near Khasab — fire on one vessel, second status unclear — and note the IRGC’s Saildrone claim remains unverified by the U.S., urging caution for commercial traffic rather than treating either strand as settled battlefield fact.
Sources: Al Jazeera · Anadolu Agency · Gulf News
Center-right view
Ship & Bunker, OilPrice.com, and Fox News frame the Khasab hits and the IRGC’s Saildrone claim as Iran pressing unmanned and commercial targets at the Hormuz gateway while Red Sea/Bab el-Mandeb pressure rises — with Hormuz transit already cratered into single digits and Brent above $100 amplifying the dual-chokepoint squeeze.
Sources: Ship & Bunker · OilPrice.com · Fox News