Tanker catches fire in eastern Strait of Hormuz, IRNA says
Iran's state news agency says the vessel had violated sanctions.
Published
Map: The Gulf and Hormuz, marking Strait of Hormuz
A tanker violating sanctions caught fire in the eastern Strait of Hormuz, Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency said.
The fire follows a string of attacks in the waterway. A third supertanker was struck in the strait in two days, Iran's Revolutionary Guard said, with mediation efforts still underway and no deal signed. A container ship was hit by an unidentified projectile in the strait on October 11, a day before the multi-tanker strikes were confirmed, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations. In an earlier strike, the targeted tanker had switched off its navigation system and ignored warnings as it tried to leave the strait, Iran's Revolutionary Guard said.
The incidents undercut a claim by President Trump that 28 million barrels moved through the Strait of Hormuz in a single day. Daily transit through the strait has run far below the roughly 125-vessel average seen before the conflict began.
The pace of strikes has picked up sharply since early October, now running at roughly one every few days rather than weekly. That tempo is keeping crude oil's existing risk premium in place, and it leaves broader risk sentiment exposed at a moment when the Fed's own rate-hike repricing is unfolding in parallel.