# Six ships reported struck around Hormuz in one day as at least 10 VLCCs bound for Fujairah stop or turn back > UKMTO reports compiled by The Maritime Executive put the number of commercial vessels struck in and around the Strait of Hormuz on October 11 at six, five of them tankers, with no attacker confirmed for any of them. Two of 11 Indian crew were missing after a drone hit the product tanker Petro Dolphin near Oman's Sohar anchorage, and Bloomberg tanker tracking showed at least 10 VLCCs and several Suezmaxes heading for Fujairah had stopped or reversed course. - Label: Fact - Type: News item - Published: 2026-10-13T06:00:00+09:00 - Written: 2026-10-22, as of the published date (a catch-up edition) - By: Jun Zhong - Researched and drafted by: Beacon's AI newsroom - Status: unconfirmed - Topics: Upstream and offshore - Canonical: https://beacon.winda.ai/news/2026-10-13-strait-of-hormuz/ ## Where it stands UK Maritime Trade Operations issued four late reports of attacks in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, October 11, which The Maritime Executive says brings that day's total to six struck vessels; the late reports carried no times, exact positions or vessel names [1]. No attacker has been confirmed for any of the six. Two of the 11 Indian seafarers aboard the Nicaragua-flagged product tanker Petro Dolphin, struck by a drone near Oman's Sohar anchorage, were still missing on October 12, per India's Ministry of External Affairs and the Forward Seamen's Union of India [2]. Damage to most of the other vessels has not been reported [1]. ## What happened On the evening of Saturday, October 10, at about 1920 UTC, a tanker was hit on the port side by an unknown projectile north of the Musandam Peninsula and caught fire, with all crew unharmed, per UKMTO as reported by The Maritime Executive [1]. The same night, ships at the Ras Al Khaimah anchorage in the UAE reported a VHF instruction from Iranian forces telling all vessels to weigh anchor and relocate [1]. On October 11 a vessel was hit on the port side at about 1200 UTC at the eastern end of the strait during an outbound transit; consultancy Vanguard Tech said it was Korean-operated and sustained damage [1]. UKMTO's later reports added an outbound tanker struck northeast of Musandam with its crew unharmed, a container ship struck at the strait's eastern entrance, a tanker near the north end of Musandam with its crew safe, and a product tanker northwest of the peninsula at an unknown time [1]. India's foreign ministry also reported that the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Valthera was struck by an unknown projectile that started a fire, and that all 11 Indian crew were safe [2]. The Petro Dolphin was struck near the Sohar anchorage on October 11; nine crew were rescued, Omani authorities continued searching for the other two, and the union named them as Bir Bahadur Yadav and Amit Singh [2] [1]. India's foreign ministry condemned attacks on commercial shipping in the region [2]. Iran's Revolutionary Guards navy released video it said showed an attack on a tanker "ignoring warnings and switching off its navigation system," per Iranian state media, and warned that vessels cooperating with the US military would face a "decisive response" [1]. Unverified footage of the stern shows the name of the UAE-owned VLCC Al Maqam; The Maritime Executive said it was unclear whether that ship matches any UKMTO report [1]. Bloomberg tanker tracking showed at least 10 VLCCs and several Suezmaxes heading for Fujairah, the export hub for the US-backed shuttle service through Hormuz, stopped or turned back, per The Maritime Executive [1]. Citing Affinity Shipbroking's record spot rates, the outlet put the cost of pausing or reversing a Middle East to Asia VLCC voyage at up to $1.4 million a day [1]. It counts more than 20 suspected Iranian attacks on shipping in a month [1]. **Analysis:** ## What it means Where the strikes landed matters as much as the count. Several were outbound transits off Musandam, but the pressure has reached the places ships wait: the Petro Dolphin at the Sohar anchorage, the Ras Al Khaimah relocation order, and on October 9 a vessel off Sharjah [1]. Iran's instruction to clear the Ras Al Khaimah anchorage, the night before six strikes, reads as a claim to control where ships may wait as well as where they may transit. For terminal and marine assurance teams, a vessel at anchor off the UAE or Oman is no longer outside the risk zone, and anchorage waiting time is now exposure time. The VLCC pullback is the supply-graph point. Fujairah is where the shuttle arrangement hands barrels from vessels that make the transit to long-haul carriers that do not. If the receiving tonnage stays away, crude backs up behind the strait even while shuttle tankers keep moving. Watch whether the 10 VLCCs resume course in the next few days or are replaced; that is the earliest signal of whether Gulf export volumes hold. The record itself is lagging. Four of the six October 11 reports surfaced late and without times or positions, and the Al Maqam claim has not been matched to any of them. Treat any day's count as provisional, and do not read a quiet UKMTO feed as a quiet strait. The next markers are the search for the two Petro Dolphin crew, identification of the unnamed vessels and their damage, and war-risk terms for UAE and Omani anchorages. ## Sources 1. [UKMTO Reports Six Strikes in One Day on Tankers in the Mideast, The Maritime Executive](https://maritime-executive.com/article/ukmto-reports-third-strike-in-a-day-on-a-tanker-in-the-mideast), 2026-10-12 2. [Hormuz attack: India's seafarers union seeks 'urgent update' on missing sailors, ANI](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/world/asia/hormuz-attack-mt-petro-dolphin-us-iran-war-attack-indian-sailor-missing), 2026-10-12 Published by Winda Beacon (https://beacon.winda.ai).