Attacks on ships in Strait of Hormuz escalate amid Iran war

Three commercial ships have been damaged by “unknown projectiles” in the Strait of Hormuz. Three vessels were hit by unknown projectiles yesterday, the UK’s maritime agency said. Meanwhile, three crew members on board a Thai vessel remain unaccounted for after it was struck yesterday. Sources told CNN Tehran had begun laying mines in the key waterway.

23 crew members on board one ship were being rescued as at yesterday.

Earlier, the US military said it “eliminated” 16 Iranian mine-laying ships in the area, after President Trump warned Iran not to “put out any mines” there.

Iran continues its strikes across the region, including in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait. In a related development, announcing the “largest ever” release of 400m barrels of oil, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said its 32 member countries voted unanimously in favour of the move.

“The oil market challenges we are facing are unprecedented in scale, therefore I am very glad that IEA Member countries have responded with an emergency collective action of unprecedented size,” says IEA executive director Fatih Birol.

The IEA says the emergency stocks will be made available to the market over a “timeframe that is appropriate to the national circumstances” of each member country.

It is the sixth time the IEA has approved a coordinated release of oil stocks, having previously done so in 1991, 2005, 2011, and twice in 2022, it says.

It adds that its members hold emergency stockpiles of more than 1.2 billion barrels, with a further 600 million barrels of industry stocks held under government obligation.

Credit: bbc.com

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