Cargo ship hit by projectile off UAE coast as tensions mount in Strait of Hormuz
UK maritime agency reports damage to container vessel northwest of Ras Al Khaimah; all crew safe as commercial traffic plummets through vital waterway
DUBAI — March 11, 2026 — A container ship was struck by an unidentified projectile approximately 25 nautical miles northwest of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations reported Wednesday, in the latest incident targeting commercial vessels in the increasingly volatile waters near the Strait of Hormuz .
The UKMTO, a British maritime security agency, said the master of the container vessel reported that the ship had sustained damage from a “suspected but unknown projectile” . The extent of the damage remains under investigation by the crew, but all personnel aboard are safe and accounted for, the agency confirmed .
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Authorities have advised vessels transiting the region to exercise caution and report any suspicious activity while investigations continue into the incident, which occurred off the coast of the United Arab Emirates .
Escalating maritime campaign
Wednesday’s attack is part of a intensifying pattern of strikes against shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that functions as a critical chokepoint for global energy supplies .
According to data compiled by the UKMTO, the International Maritime Organization, and Iranian authorities, at least 10 oil tankers in or near the strait have been struck, targeted, or reported attacks between March 1 and March 10 . Analysts from data tracking groups have confirmed approximately 10 vessels have come under attack since Iran blocked the strategic waterway in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes that began on February 28 .
The IMO has documented nine attacks on ships in the strait over one week, including four incidents that resulted in seven fatalities . The deadliest occurred on March 6, when four people were killed after the Mussafah 2 was struck . Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry later confirmed that three Indonesian crew members from the UAE-flagged tugboat remain missing after the vessel caught fire and sank in waters between the UAE and Oman at approximately 2 a.m. local time on March 6 .
The Joint Maritime Information Centre, run by a Western naval coalition, warned over the weekend that vessels providing assistance to previously targeted ships may face “elevated risk of follow-on strikes” . The JMIC noted that the “observed pattern of strikes against anchored vessels, drifting ships, and assistance vessels indicates a campaign focused on creating operational uncertainty and deterring routine commercial movement rather than a sustained attempt to sink vessels” .
Severe disruption to global shipping
The wave of attacks has brought commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to a near-standstill. According to MarineTraffic data analysed by Agence France-Presse, only nine commercial ships—including oil tankers, cargo vessels, and container ships—were detected crossing the strait in the week beginning March 2, a dramatic decline from normal levels .
Some vessels have been observed travelling with their Automatic Identification System transponders switched off to conceal their positions, while others have intermittently masked their locations . Matt Wright, an analyst at Kpler which publishes MarineTraffic, noted that “some tankers are still travelling east and west through the strait, with a number of voyages occurring under AIS blackouts” .
The disruption has extended to energy shipping more broadly. Analysis firm Kpler reported that tanker traffic through the strait has dropped by 90 percent in a week . The strait normally sees approximately 20 percent of global oil consumption and about 20 percent of liquefied natural gas transit its waters daily .
Shipping data indicates that at least 150 oil tankers and LNG carriers have anchored in Gulf waters outside the strait, with dozens more vessels waiting on the other side .
Vessels adopt protective measures
In response to the threat, ships in the Gulf or transiting the Strait of Hormuz have begun modifying their tracking data to broadcast links to China in an apparent attempt to evade Iranian attacks, according to Marine Traffic data analysed by AFP .
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By claiming to have an “all-Chinese crew” aboard or changing their displayed destination to “Chinese owner,” vessels are linking themselves to Iran’s most important economic partner . “These appear to be precautionary signals used by ships attempting to reduce the risk of being targeted,” according to Ana Subasic, trade risk analyst at Kpler. She noted that such signals “does not always signal direct Chinese ownership” .
Since March 2, around 30 other ships have employed similar tactics, with some vessels broadcasting China links while sailing through the strait and then removing them once clear of the area . At least two ships have broadcast signals indicating Turkish ownership and crew, and one vessel declared itself a “Muslim vessel” on the day the war broke out .
Political and military responses
The escalating situation has drawn increasingly stark warnings from world leaders. US President Donald Trump issued a sharply worded statement Tuesday on his Truth Social platform, calling on Iran to refrain from placing mines in the Strait of Hormuz and warning of military consequences if they are not removed .
“If Iran has put out any mines in the Hormuz Strait, and we have no reports of them doing so, we want them removed, IMMEDIATELY! 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,” Trump wrote .
In a separate post, Trump said that “within the last few hours, we have hit, and completely destroyed, 10 inactive mine-laying boats and/or ships, with more to follow” . US Central Command later posted on X that “U.S. forces are degrading the Iranian regime’s ability to project power at sea and harass international shipping” .
CENTCOM separately claimed that its forces had destroyed 16 Iranian vessels near the Strait of Hormuz that were allegedly laying mines .
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has launched what it terms “Operation Wada-e-Sadiq 4,” announcing a new wave of attacks on US and Israeli targets in the Middle East . The IRGC said the 37th phase of the operation involved continuous missile strikes for three hours, targeting military sites in Erbil, Iraq; the US Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain; and centers in Tel Aviv and the port of Haifa, Israel .
French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday he was seeking to build a coalition to secure the “sea lanes essential to the global economy” in the region . His office later clarified that any mission would be “purely defensive” in nature .
Conflicting signals from Tehran
Iranian authorities have sent mixed messages regarding their intentions in the waterway. A Revolutionary Guards general warned on March 2 that Iran would “burn any ship” attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz and block all Gulf oil exports . However, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated Thursday that Tehran had “no intention” of closing the strategic waterway .
Iran’s Tasnim News Agency has reported that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps “has warned several ships that due to the military attacks by the United States and Israel and Iran’s countermeasures, the security situation around the strait is unstable and passage is currently not advisable” .
The Iranian mission to the United Nations has not issued an official statement regarding the latest attack on the container vessel off Ras Al Khaimah.
Economic implications
The effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has sent shockwaves through global energy markets. Oil prices have surged past US$100 per barrel for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, fulfilling what analysts suggest is Tehran’s strategic objective .
By “jacking up insurance premiums and global energy prices,” Iran could “put pressure on the US” as well as its oil-rich Gulf allies, Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group, told AFP .
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Friday that the United States would escort merchant ships attempting to transit the strait “as soon as it’s reasonable to do it” . However, the White House clarified Tuesday that the US has not escorted any oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz to date .
The strike on a container vessel off Ras Al Khaimah represents the latest escalation in a rapidly deteriorating maritime security environment in the Strait of Hormuz. With at least ten vessels attacked in just over a week, commercial traffic through the world’s most important energy chokepoint has plummeted by 90 percent, sending oil prices soaring and threatening global economic stability.
As Iran’s Revolutionary Guards continue their military campaign while sending contradictory diplomatic signals, and as the United States and its allies contemplate naval escort missions, the international community faces the prospect of prolonged disruption to a waterway through which 20 percent of the world’s oil normally flows. For now, vessels navigating these waters do so at their own risk, with some resorting to broadcasting false affiliations in hopes of safe passage through one of the world’s most strategically vital—and now dangerous—maritime corridors.
SOURCES / INPUTS
ShipandBunker: Second Container Ship Hit by Projectiles in Strait of Hormuz
Global Nation: Container ship hit off UAE coast by unknown projectile
InvestingLive: Container ship damaged off UAE near Strait of Hormuz
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