
The ship came under attack about eight nautical miles west of Iran on its way out of the strait at 6:38 AM UTC on Wednesday. Image Credit: UKMTO
Iranian forces have fired on a cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a British government agency monitoring maritime security in the region, in the second such incident on Wednesday morning.
The ship came under attack about eight nautical miles west of Iran on its way out of the strait at 6:38 AM UTC on Wednesday, the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency said in a social media post.
“A master of an outbound cargo ship reports having been fired upon and is now stopped in the water,” the agency said.
“Crew are safe and accounted for. There is no reported damage to the vessel.”
The attack follows an incident about three hours earlier in which Iranian forces are reported to have heavily damaged a container ship in the area.
Iran has sought to close the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping since US and Israeli strikes on the country began at the end of February. Transits through the key maritime chokepoint have dropped to a near-standstill.
Over the past week the US has implemented a blockade on ships that have visited Iranian ports, seeking to halt Iranian exports and imports while shipments from other countries in the region have been similarly blocked.
Ship & Bunker News Team
To contact the editor responsible for this story email us at [email protected]