Iran reports explosions involving four tankers in Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s military said four oil tankers were hit by explosions in the Strait of Hormuz on November 11 and 12, Reuters reported. The incidents were reported as ships continued to face attacks in the strategic waterway.

Iran said the vessels had ignored warnings and entered areas it considered restricted. Reuters said it could not immediately verify Iran’s account of the two incidents reported on November 11.

• Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Navy said two supertankers were disabled by explosions on November 11 after ignoring warnings about an “unauthorised route.”
• Iran’s army said two other tankers hit mines in the eastern strait on November 12 and caught fire.
• UKMTO reported a vessel hit by an unidentified projectile near Ras Al-Khaimah on November 11; whether that report overlaps with Iran’s account of the four tankers is not established.

Iran’s accounts of the tanker incidents

UKMTO said a vessel was struck by an unidentified projectile about 14 nautical miles northwest of Ras Al-Khaimah while exiting the strait on Wednesday. The agency reported an engine-room fire, said firefighting was under way and said the crew had been evacuated. Reuters has described UKMTO reports of unknown projectiles in earlier incidents, while Iranian accounts in more recent cases have attributed fires to mines on a route Iran called unauthorised.

The wider pattern includes attacks and reported oil pollution. Reuters cited Washington Institute for Near East Policy data showing at least 10 ships hit in the first 10 days of November and 37 attacks in October, the highest monthly tally since the conflict began in late February.

The Guardian reported that Greenpeace had identified more than 500 instances of oil spills by satellite across the Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Arabian Sea since the war began on February 28. The findings included spills linked to vessel attacks and others detected around the time of strikes whose origins could not be confirmed. Greenpeace expert Nina Noelle put the cumulative mapped daily spill footprints at about 20,000 square kilometres, a total formed by adding the mapped footprint for each day.

What it means

The strait’s coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass meadows support marine life, and oil pollution has reached several coastlines, The Guardian reported. Environmental groups are analyzing satellite imagery, but assessing the full extent of damage requires on-the-ground investigations, which remain extremely difficult.

Past pollution has persisted for decades: The Guardian cited a 2020 study tracing tar on Qatari beaches to the Gulf war and a 2022 study that found oil contamination on Saudi Arabia’s Abu Ali Island from the 1983–85 Nowruz spills.