The United Kingdom maritime authorities have reported this Thursday of new attacks with missiles of unknown origin in the , which have hit two oil tankers, which have had to be evacuated due to the fires registered on board, and a container ship where a fire has also been registered, although smaller.
Specifically, the (UKMTO) has reported an incident five nautical miles (about eight kilometers) south of the Iraqi city of Basra, where two oil tankers have been subject to attacks that have caused fires on board the vessels.
“All crew members have been evacuated,” the operations center stated, adding that, for the moment, “no environmental impact” derived from the ravages of the aforementioned attacks has been reported.
On the other hand, 35 nautical miles (almost 65 kilometers) north of Jebel Ali, in the United Arab Emirates, another missile has hit a container ship, causing a “small fire” on board. From this attack, although the crew “is safe”, it has not been possible to carry out a “complete assessment” of damage, since the darkness has made it difficult.
While the authorities investigate the circumstances in which these events occurred, the maritime trade operations center has urged ships sailing in the area to do so “with caution”, as well as to report “any suspicious activity” detected.
Faced with this climate, it announced this Thursday the total closure of its oil ports, after the attacks recorded near its coasts. This was reported by the country’s seaport administration. However, he highlighted that operations continue in commercial ports, with ships in the waiting area, and loading and unloading in the northern and southern ports of Umm Qasr.
“One of the tankers loaded with petroleum products, supplied by SOMO [una de las principales compañías de comercialización de petróleo] to the Iraqi Tanker Company, was involved in an incident less than an hour ago,” said Farhan al-Fartousi, director general of the Iraqi General Ports Company.
In addition, he added that one of the tankers was involved in an explosion “the cause of which is unknown,” and it could have been “a direct attack or a booby-trapped vessel.” He also reported that, so far, rescue teams, in cooperation with naval units, have rescued 38 people, one of them deceased.
A map shows the Strait of Hormuz on a laptop screen, in an illustration taken in Athens, March 1, 2026.
The precedents
It should be remembered that this Wednesday attacks were recorded against three other ships, in the midst of the escalation of war in the region, as a result of the offensive launched by the United States and Israel against Iran and its retaliation against these attacks. .
Three Thai sailors remain missing this Thursday after the attack that damaged the Thai cargo ship MV Mayuree Naree the day before, while 20 crew members were rescued and taken ashore by the Oman Navy. The spokesman for the Royal Thai Navy, Rear Admiral Parach Rattanachaipan, reported in a statement that the ship was damaged by an explosion in waters near that strategic sea passage, forcing the 23 crew members to evacuate the vessel.
Rescue operations by the Royal Navy of Oman brought 20 of the sailors to safety, while search efforts continue to locate the remaining three.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Thai Navy, Admiral Phairote Fuangchan, contacted his Omani counterpart, Rear Admiral Saif bin Nasser Al Rahbi, on Wednesday to thank them for their assistance and request that efforts be intensified to find the missing. “The Royal Thai Navy remains deeply concerned about the fate of the three remaining crew members and has requested cooperation to accelerate search and rescue efforts,” the institution said in a statement posted on Facebook by the Office of the Navy Spokesperson.
According to UKMTO, the cargo ship was hit by an unidentified projectile about 11 nautical miles (about 20 kilometers) north of Oman, causing a fire on board and forcing the crew to abandon ship and request assistance. The ship, owned by the Thai shipping company Precious Shipping Public, was left in flames after the impact, while the Iranian Revolutionary Guard later claimed responsibility for the attack and also claimed another against the ship linked to Israel Expres Room.
High impact
These hostilities, in turn, have had an impact on maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic enclave through which around a quarter of the world’s maritime oil trade circulates, as well as a significant volume of liquefied natural gas and fertilizers.
On the night of this same Wednesday, , a reference in the European markets, has once again exceeded $100, as reported by the Bloomberg agency, after Oman decided to withdraw all its ships from its main oil export terminal and two oil tankers were the target of attacks in Iraqi waters.
The near paralysis of maritime traffic in Hormuz has forced Gulf producers to reduce production, triggering, at the same time, a significant rise in the price of crude oil and natural gas. This has motivated the United States to announce the release of 172 million barrels in order to compensate for this increase.
