Two Ships Report Iranian Attacks in Strait of Hormuz

On Wednesday morning, two ships were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, signaling Iran's willingness to use force after recent U.S. interdictions of Iranian tonnage. UK Maritime Trade Operations said ds that it is "aware of high levels of activity in the SoH area and encourages vessels to report any suspicious activity."

In the first incident, at a position about 15 nm off the Musandam Peninsula, the master of a boxship reported that one IRGC gunboat approached without making contact on VHF. At about 0400 GMT, the boat opened fire; the bridge sustained heavy damage, but no fires or injuries were reported.

In the second incident, at about 0640 GMT, the master of a boxship reported that the vessel had been fired upon and was now stopped in the water. No damage or injuries were reported.

"Both vessels are chartered to MSC and tried to pass outbound with AIS switched off," reports Martin Kelly of EOS Risk Group. "Both turned on AIS at the time of the attack, probably at the order of the IRGC."

The IRGC has announced that it will implement a thorough blockade of the strait until the U.S. lifts its own naval cordon, which bars Iranian ships from the waterway. A handful of vessels continue to make it through and clear in both directions, including Iranian-linked tanker tonnage. The U.S. has seized two Iranian vessels so far in connection with the campaign: an IRISL boxship, the Touska, arriving from China; and the tanker Tifani, which was boarded Tuesday in a "right-of-visit maritime interdiction" in the Bay of Bengal.