Cargo ship hit on UN-backed Hormuz route as tanker traffic resumes

Dubai,UPDATED: Jun 25, 2026 22:34 IST

A cargo ship using a United Nations-approved route through the Strait of Hormuz was hit by a projectile on Thursday, the British military said, as more tankers began moving out through the waterway on the same path. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said there were no casualties and no environmental damage.

The incident came as Iran threatened ships using the route laid out along Oman’s coast by Oman and the Maritime Organization, a UN agency. The attack also unfolded while the United States and Iran continued talks on an interim peace deal, and as fresh Israeli strikes in Lebanon put pressure on a wider truce.

Oil tankers led by the Stoic Warrior sailed along the United Arab Emirates and then Oman early on Thursday, passing close to Oman’s Musandam Peninsula. North of this route lies the central corridor of the strait, where ships had moved freely before the war, carrying about a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas. Iran has said it mined that passage after the US and Israel attacked it on February 28, and at least one mine has been sighted there.

Some ships had already been leaving the strait with US military support, but the UN-backed plan is the latest effort to move vessels that had been trapped. Shipping company Maersk said its container ship, the Maersk Baltimore, and another chartered vessel cleared the strait on Thursday.

Traffic through the strait has risen, though it remains below levels seen before the war. Lloyd’s List Intelligence said 125 vessels crossed the strait last week, up from 33 the week before. S&P Global said there were 78 transits on Wednesday, the highest since the war began, but still below the earlier daily average of 130 or more. “Opportunistic operators — and there are many of them — emboldened by the lower transit risk, or at least the perceived lower transit risk, have begun chasing the backlog of trapped cargoes,” said Richard Meade, editor-in-chief at Lloyd’s List.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, in a warning carried by the state-run IRNA news agency, said the new route had been created without notice or coordination with Tehran and was “unacceptable and completely dangerous”. It added, “The only authorised route for passing through the Strait of Hormuz is the one declared by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Vessel traffic outside these routes is extremely dangerous and prohibited.” The force also said, “Violators will be dealt with,” without giving details. There were no immediate reports of any incidents in the strait, though private security firm Ambrey said the Guard had threatened one tanker over radio on Wednesday, with a soldier warning, “You are in range of my missiles and maybe I fire on you.”

In Bahrain, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met foreign ministers from the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council and said Washington would back the new route. “There is no part in this deal that’s undertaken that in any way undermines the security, the stability or the prosperity of any of our partners in the Gulf region,” Rubio said. He later told journalists that the US and its Gulf allies would make sure no fees were charged on ships moving through the strait, and said Washington wanted the Oman route to continue. “If that stops, then we’re going to have a problem,” he said. Bahrain Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani thanked the US for its support and said that because of the agreement, “today we see a glimmer of hope for our region”, while adding that it was “critically important that Iran adheres to its obligations.”

The opening of an alternative passage could ease pressure on the world economy and reduce one of Iran’s main sources of leverage in the talks with the US. Oil prices briefly fell below their last level before the war, at just under USD 73 a barrel. The two sides are still discussing the terms of an interim deal, including ship movements through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf and the future of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Under a memorandum of understanding signed last week, Washington and Tehran have 60 days to settle the details. Even as closed-door talks continue, President Donald Trump and Iranian leaders have appeared to negotiate in public, trading threats and claiming concessions the other side denies.

At the same time, the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has come under strain. Lebanon said five people had been killed in Israeli strikes over the past two days. The country’s health ministry said three people were killed on Thursday in an Israeli strike on a car in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah has called the recent strikes a ceasefire violation but has not retaliated, and there was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the latest strike. The attack came as Lebanese and Israeli officials were in Washington for talks on a proposed phased withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon. Israel’s military said a reservist was killed and another soldier was injured in southern Lebanon on Thursday. More than 4,000 people in Lebanon have been killed in Israeli strikes since the latest war with Hezbollah began in March, while at least 37 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Lebanon or northern Israel during the fighting.

Thursday’s strike on the cargo ship highlighted the continuing risks in the Strait of Hormuz, even as more vessels resumed movement on the UN-backed Oman route, US-Iran talks carried on, and tensions in Lebanon threatened the fragile regional truce.

With PTI Inputs

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