Panama-flagged Tanker Hit by Drone in Strait of Hormuz; US Retaliates

A laden Panama-flagged tanker outbound from the Gulf was struck early on Saturday, June 27, as Iran continues to say it is firing "warning shots" at any vessel attempting to make the transit without its permission. Donald Trump called the attack on Thursday on the containership Ever Lovely a "foolish violation of our ceasefire agreement" while the U.S. has now staged two rounds of retaliatory strikes on Iranian infrastructure. As a result of the potential escalation, the Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) raised the threat level to "substantial" just days after it had been lowered to "moderate."

The Greek-owned tanker Kiku(300,866 dwt) registered in Panama, was hit early on Saturday, June 27. It had loaded at the Al Shaheen Offshore Terminal in Qatar and was bound for Singapore more than two-million barrels of crude oil, says U.S. Central Command. The tanker was reported to have been approximately 22 nautical miles off Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE when it was struck. The master told UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) that the crew was safe, but the vessel had sustained damage.

MSCIO (Maritime Security Center Indian Ocean) reports the tanker was struck by a drone on its starboard bridge wing. It says the damage was minor and that the tanker was continuing its passage. However, the vessel's AIS shows that it was bound for Fujairah in the UAE.

The attack on the tanker was followed by several drones launched toward Bahrain. The Bahrain Foreign Ministry reported "a number of drones," with Iran contending it was targeting U.S. military installations with "defensive strikes" after the "barbaric" air strikes by the U.S. overnight on Friday. Earlier, Iranian officials had repeated their assertion that "the Strait of Hormuz is governed by Iran, so respect the rules."

Donald Trump, in a social media posting, said Iran had fired at least four one-way attack drones at ships transversing the Strait of Hormuz. He said the U.S. "knocked down" three drones, but one had struck the Ever Lovely.

Both sides are accusing the other of violating the ceasefire agreement. CENTCOM said in a statement, however, "Iran was given a chance to honor the ceasefire agreement but elected not to when its forces launched a one-way attack drone that hit M/T Kiku."

Late on Saturday, CENTCOM forces launched strikes in response to continued Iranian aggression against commercial shipping. U.S. military aircraft targeted Iranian military surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities, and minelayer capabilities. CENTCOM asserts that commercial vessel transits through the Strait of Hormuz continue. It ays U.S. forces remain vigilant, lethal, and ready.

Earlier today, JMIC had advised that the southern route has been expanded to accommodate simultaneous inbound and outbound traffic. Concerns had been raised when the southern route near the coast of Oman was opened, that it was narrow and raised the risk for incidents. The International Maritime Organization repeated the earlier assessment that there are at least 80 mines in the Traffic Separation Scheme lanes of the Strait of Hormuz.

The IMO, however, continued to pause its evacuation effort, saying it was waiting for more information and renewed safety guarantees. It asserted the containership Ever Lovely was not under the IMO's evacuation framework. Evergreen Line, however, said in a statement that it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz in accordance with the recommended route issued by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).

It said the damage to the containership was limited to the "eaves" of the bridge and two of the bridge windows. The containership remained fully operational and seaworthy, said Evergreen, and it was continuing its trip. Two other Evergreen containerships, identified as Ever Unicorn (5,652 TEU) and Ever Lotus (8,500 TEU), completed their transit through the Strait of Hormuz safely without any abnormal incidents, Evergreen said. It reports that all vessels operated by Evergreen Line have safely departed the Persian Gulf.