- On 11 March alone, at least six merchant vessels were targeted in attacks in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz: three bulk carriers and container ships in the Strait and two tankers in Iraqi waters.
- The Source Blessing, a 2,700 TEU chartered container ship hired by Maersk for the Oman Gulf Shuttle service within the Gemini network, was struck by shrapnel on the morning of 12 March while waiting at anchor. The crew were unharmed and the fire was quickly extinguished, but the episode shows that the threat now extends well beyond vessels transiting the Strait.
- The price of Brent crude has risen back above $100 per barrel. The International Energy Agency has proposed a record release of 172 million barrels from US strategic reserves, while Maersk estimates that at least one week would be needed to normalise its network once any ceasefire is reached.
In the early hours of 12 March 2026, a Hapag-Lloyd chartered container ship was hit by shrapnel in the Persian Gulf. The vessel was the Source Blessing, with a capacity of 2,700 TEU, which had been chartered to Maersk as part of the Oman Gulf Shuttle service linking inner Gulf ports with the hubs of Sohar and Salalah located outside the Strait of Hormuz. According to an official communication from Hapag-Lloyd, the crew were unharmed and the onboard personnel extinguished the fire quickly, bringing the situation under control. The key point, however, concerns not only the material extent of the damage. The Source Blessing was not attempting to cross the Strait, nor was it in the immediate vicinity of the transit route. It had been anchored and waiting ever since — six days before the attack — Hapag-Lloyd had suspended the OGS service due to the ongoing conflict. In other words, the vessel was one of the units “trapped” in the Gulf since the start of hostilities.
The attack on the Source Blessing came at the end of a day, 11 March 2026, already described by Reuters and Bloomberg as “among the heaviest since the beginning of the conflict” in terms of the number of merchant vessels involved. On the morning of 11 March, UK Maritime Trade Operations (Ukmto) and several news agencies confirmed three attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and adjacent waters. The Japanese container ship One Majesty was hit at 01.58 GMT about 25 nautical miles north-west of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, sustaining minor hull damage while the crew remained safe. A few minutes later, at 02.05 GMT, the Thai bulk carrier Mayuree Naree (30,197 dwt), controlled by Precious Shipping, was struck by a projectile 11 nautical miles north of Oman, causing a fire that required the partial evacuation of the 23 crew members, who were later rescued by the Royal Thai Navy. Around the same time the bulk carrier Star Gwyneth, flying the flag of the Marshall Islands and owned by the Greek shipowner Star Bulk, was also hit about 50 nautical miles north-west of Dubai. Risk management firm Vanguard confirmed that the crew were safe and that no cargo losses had been reported.
During the night between 11 and 12 March, the theatre of the attacks shifted northwards to Iraqi territorial waters near the ports of Basra and Umm Qasr. According to videos released by Iraqi port authorities, two tankers loaded with petroleum products shipped from Iraq were attacked by fast boats armed with explosives that approached the hulls, triggering fires documented in footage from the port authority. The vessels involved were reportedly the Safesea Vishnu (Marshall Islands flag) and the Zefyros (Malta flag). Iraqi authorities reported one fatality and 38 crew members rescued, with search and rescue operations still under way when the news was released. Iran claimed responsibility for the attack on at least one of the tankers, describing it as a “US-owned vessel” and explicitly linking the action to military operations by the United States and Israel in the Gulf, according to Investing.com. The Iranian account, however, does not match in every detail the information released by Iraqi ports and maritime intelligence companies.
The overall picture emerging from these episodes is one of a progressive geographical expansion of the threat. The attacks are no longer limited to vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passage through which roughly 20% of global oil trade flows. They are also targeting ships anchored at sea, tankers in the territorial waters of a third country such as Iraq, and vessels of widely differing nationalities, including Japanese, Thai, Greek-Marshallese and Maltese. UK Maritime Trade Operations has issued advisories recommending that ships in transit maintain maximum vigilance, update security plans and consider route deviations.
The consequences for container shipping companies are worsening. A.P. Møller-Maersk told the Wall Street Journal that ten of its container ships are currently stuck in the Persian Gulf and estimated that at least a week would be required to resume normal operations after any ceasefire reopening the Strait. Senior analyst Haider Anjum of Jyske Bank noted in a briefing that the issue goes beyond the ships already halted: “The biggest challenge lies in the delays that accumulate across Maersk’s entire global container network.” This cascading effect spreads along all routes connected to the ports that would normally be served from the Gulf, from South Asia to the eastern Mediterranean.
Another element of complexity concerns transits by vessels with transponders switched off. Between 5 and 10 March two tankers bound for India carrying a combined cargo of three million barrels of Iraqi and Saudi crude reportedly crossed the Strait of Hormuz with their automatic identification systems turned off. An Iranian official told Reuters that Iran had not authorised the passage of these ships, raising questions about the actual level of control over the Strait and about the practices adopted by operators to reduce exposure to the threat, with significant implications for cargo traceability and the management of insurance risk.
In energy markets, the attacks of 11 and 12 March have helped push again Brent crude back above $100 per barrel. The International Energy Agency has proposed a record release of strategic reserves, including a contribution of 172 million barrels from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, to mitigate the impact of disruptions to Gulf flows. A spokesperson for the Iranian government, quoted by BBC, said that “the world must prepare for $200 oil”, explicitly linking price levels to regional stability.
M.L.
