Tanker Hit by Limpet Mine Attack in Strait of Hormuz
Overnight Thursday, Iranian forces hit another tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, this time by means of a small-craft limpet mine attack, according to UK Maritime Trade Operations.
The vessel was operating at a position about 25 nautical miles to the northeast of Khasab, off the Musandam Peninsula. At about 2212 hours GMT, assailants approached the vessel in a small craft and attached two explosive devices to the hull, UKMTO reported. When the devices detonated, they sparked a fire in the engine room, disabling the vessel. The location of the blast damage was above the waterline, reducing risk to the vessel. The crew was able to extinguish the fire, and the ship got back under way to its destination, UKMTO reported.
Commentator Babak Taghvaee, a security analyst with Greek defense industry publication Flight, reported that the assailants were members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy special forces. The attackers used a Maham 7 - a 220-kilo bottom mine - to damage the tanker, according to Taghvaee.
Another tanker reported a strike by an unknown projectile in the same region of the Strait of Hormuz earlier in the day, at about 1600 GMT. No injuries were reported to UKMTO.
On Thursday morning, at about 0300 GMT, a dhow caught fire and sank after becoming "involved in a maritime security incident" just north of Khasab. Regional security authorities confirmed the incident; the crew's status is unknown.
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The true scale of attacks is likely greater than what is being reported, analysts suggest.
"It is known now that companies are not reporting attacks to UKMTO/NCAGS as frequently as before so attack volumes aren't as accurate," said Martin Kelly of EOS Risk Group in a comment Thursday. "We have also seen a reduction in the number of attacks by Iran in [the strait] over the past 24-48 hours - possibly preparing for renewed conflict with the US after (or before) the mid-terms on 3 November."
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