Authors: Yusuf Saba, Jaida Taha and Jonathan Saul
DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) – U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran have triggered retaliation from Iran, putting commercial ships at risk of collateral damage and damaging at least three oil tankers along the Gulf Coast, shipping sources and officials said on Sunday.
Shipping data on Sunday showed that risks to commercial shipping had surged in the past 24 hours, with more than 200 vessels, including oil tankers and liquefied gas tankers, anchoring in the Strait of Hormuz and surrounding waters.
Iran said it had closed navigation in the key waterway.
“US and Israeli attacks on Iran have significantly increased security risks for ships operating in the Persian Gulf and adjacent waters,” said Jakob Larsen, chief security officer at BIMCO shipping association.
“Ships may be targeted intentionally or mistakenly”
“Vessels with business ties to U.S. or Israeli interests are more likely to be targeted, but other vessels can also be targeted intentionally or mistakenly.”
A Palau-flagged oil tanker subject to U.S. sanctions was hit Sunday off Oman’s Musandam Peninsula, injuring four people, Oman’s Maritime Security Center said, without specifying what caused the hit.
The Marshall Islands-flagged crude oil tanker MKD VYOM was hit by a shell while sailing with cargo off the coast of Oman, two maritime security sources said on Sunday.
One of the sources said the ship was hit 44.4 nautical miles northwest of Muscat.
Britain’s maritime agency UKMTO said a merchant ship carrying cargo reported an explosion at the same location.
Maritime security sources said an independent oil tanker in the United Arab Emirates port of Jebel Ali was nearly damaged by debris falling from an aerial interception after Iran launched an overnight attack on the Gulf state.
A third oil tanker was damaged off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, two shipping sources said.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration said in a report on Saturday that ships were advised to stay away from the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Gulf of Oman due to the risk of Iranian retaliatory attacks.
“Any U.S.-flagged, U.S.-crewed commercial vessel operating in these areas should maintain a 30-mile standoff distance from U.S. warships to reduce the risk of being mistaken for a threat,” the report said.
Security sources said there is also a potential risk that Iranian forces could lay mines in the narrow channel of the Strait of Hormuz.
Two U.S. officials told Reuters in July that the Iranian military loaded mines on ships in the Persian Gulf in June, fueling Washington’s concerns that Tehran was preparing to block the Strait of Hormuz.
War risk insurance rates are expected to surge when underwriters review coverage on Monday, maritime sources said.
War insurance is required when sailing to dangerous areas, and Lloyd’s of London markets have classified Iran, the Gulf and parts of the Gulf of Oman as high risk.
“We estimate that near-term rate increases for hull insurance in the Gulf are likely to be between 25% and 50%,” said Dylan Mortimer of insurance brokerage Marsh.
(Reporting by Yousef Saba, Jaidaa Taha and Jonathan Saul, additional reporting by Yannis Souliotis, Arathy Somasekhar, Enes Tunagur, Muhammad Al Gebaly and Nadine Awadalla; Editing by Ros Russell and David Goodman)
