Three more commercial vessels were hit by projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday as Iran ramped up strikes against its neighbours and ships exporting crude through the narrow chokepoint.
A Thai cargo vessel, pictured above, was one of the three hit and set ablaze after two missiles struck the dry bulk vessel and set it ablaze. That brought the number of ships struck during the latest conflict – now in its 12th day – to more than a dozen.
Twenty of the crew on board the Mayuree Naree were rescued, but three were “missing and believed to be trapped in the engine room,” the Thai-listed owner Precious Shipping said. A bulk carrier and a container ship, including one owned by Mitsui OSK, were also hit in the Gulf near the United Arab Emirates, but suffered less serious damage.
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The campaign against shipping in the Strait has plunged the global energy economy into crisis and comes as Iran’s military command warned that the world should be prepared for oil to hit $200 a barrel.
The price of benchmark Brent crude surged 5% and European share markets were down sharply after the latest ship strikes were reported. Earlier, Asian markets were mixed.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said that any ship passing through the strait would be targeted, despite threats by US President Donald Trump to ramp up attacks if it continues to obstruct the strait.
Trump also promised to escort vessels through the waterway, but US Navy chiefs have told the shipping industry it is unable to provide escorts for vessels that want to transit the sea lane because it is still too dangerous, according to Reuters, which noted that only the Strait of Malacca between Malaysia and Indonesia sees more oil tanker traffic.
Saudi Arabia is pumping oil through its East-West pipeline to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, although its capacity is limited. The United Arab Emirates is also able to relay oil through a pipeline to Fujairah port on the Gulf of Oman.
But some refineries in the Gulf, such as Kuwait’s Zour, have not been able to ship the crude they produce, while others, such as Bahrain’s Bapco Energies Sitra and Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura, have been hit by strikes and damaged.
This is why oil prices have surged and markets have see-sawed since February 28, when the United States and Israel attacked Iran, killing its supreme leader and plunging the Middle East into war.
Currently, hundreds of ships remain anchored on both sides of the waterway, while oil and shipping executives watch for signs for when it may be safe to sail through the strait again.
Japan to release reserves
In more positive news, leaders of the G7 nations were due to hold a video meeting later today to discuss opening their strategic petroleum reserves to counter the rising prices. Ahead of the talks, the group’s energy ministers said they “stand ready to take all necessary measures”.
Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi said at 7.20pm on Wednesday her country would release stockpiled oil and cap gasoline prices because of the crisis in the Gulf.
She said they plan to utilise domestic stockpiles to prevent disruption to supplies of gasoline and other petroleum products, as imports of crude oil are likely to drop significantly from late March because tankers have not been able to sail through the Strait of Hormuz.
Japan had a high dependence on oil imports from the Middle East, she said.
Meanwhile, the conflict has also hit China’s access to sulphur – a raw material used in the production of fertiliser. China gets nearly half its sulphur from the Persian Gulf, but the war has tightened imports it gets from six nations in the Gulf “just as the country enters its vital spring planting season,” according to a report by the South China Morning Post.
Analysts say a prolonged closure of the Strait, which carries 20% of world oil and gas supplies and a third of its fertiliser for food production, would have a devastating effect on the economy, particularly on countries in Asia and Europe.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon said US forces had carried out strikes that destroyed 16 mine-laying vessels that could have been used to attack or deter traffic in the strait, but drone and missile attacks continued on Wednesday.
Dubai Airport hit
“If for any reason mines were placed, and they are not removed forthwith, the military consequences to Iran will be at a level never seen before,” US President Donald Trump posted on social media.
On shore, drones fell near Dubai airport, injuring four people, the city’s government said.
UAE officials said about 1,700 missiles and drones had been fired towards the Emirates and it estimated Iran may have launched more strikes against their nation than Israel, according to an ABC News report.
Meanwhile, analysts have been dubious about Trump’s claim that naval escorts will be able to reopen Hormuz to trade, according to AFP.
“Any escort mission would likely face persistent threats from Iranian missiles and drones, and the security risks alone could make a single transit through the strait more costly than the profit margin on the oil shipment itself,” the Soufan Center think tank said, in a briefing note.
“Experts estimate that Iran’s naval mine stockpile sits anywhere from 2,000 to 6,000 mines, which would further complicate any naval plan to escort commercial tankers,” it said.
Iran ‘not seeking ceasefire’
The Israeli-US attacks came weeks after Iranian authorities ruthlessly crushed mass protests, although the United States and Israel say they are not necessarily seeking to topple the Islamic republic.
Iranian authorities warned against dissent at home, with the country’s police chief saying protesters would be viewed and dealt with as “enemies”.
“All our forces are also ready, with their hands on the trigger, prepared to defend their revolution,” national police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan said, in comments aired by IRIB.
Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a former top commander in the elite Revolutionary Guards, said in an English-language social media post: “Certainly we aren’t seeking a ceasefire.”
In Iran, ordinary people were doing the best they could to adapt to living under frequent US-Israeli strikes.
“We’ve put our faith in God. For now, there’s food in the shops; every day I go to buy greens and bread, that’s all,” Tehran resident Mahvash, 70, told AFP journalists in Paris.
“People are calm,” another resident said. “They are getting used to living despite everything and adapting – as best they can – to this situation.”
New leader ‘wounded’
The United States and Israel launched the war on February 28 with an attack that killed Iran’s veteran leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
His son Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, has been named his successor, though he has yet to appear in public, amid reports that he suffered leg injuries in the strike that killed his father, mother, wife and son, according to the New York Times, which cited Israeli military officials.
“I heard news that Mr Mojtaba Khamenei had been injured. I have asked some friends who had connections. They told me that, thank God, he is safe and sound,” Yousef Pezeshkian, son of Iran’s president, said in a post.
Iran’s health ministry said on March 8 that more than 1,200 people had been killed in US and Israeli strikes, and more than 10,000 civilians injured. AFP was not in a position to independently verify the figures.
In Lebanon, hundreds of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes following Israeli airstrikes and ground operations targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah.
New Israeli strikes were reported in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Wednesday. The health ministry said another five people were killed in the southern town of Qana.
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