Strait of Hormuz Attacks Hit Record as Iran Claims Tanker Mine Strikes

Strait of Hormuz attacks on merchant ships reached a new weekly high in mid-October 2026, with at least 12 vessels hit in the seven days ending Oct. 16, the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency (UKMTO) said. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard then said on Saturday, Oct. 17, that two loaded supertankers caught fire after striking mines, a claim the U.S. military disputes.

Record week of Strait of Hormuz attacks

UKMTO said half of the 12 ships it confirmed as attacked continued to their destination or reached port, one sank, two were disabled and three were damaged or had an unconfirmed outcome, Al Jazeera reported. October has had the most ship attacks of any month since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began on Feb. 28.

The real number is probably higher. “UKMTO is struggling to accurately report true number of attacks with majority of vessels attacked refusing to report to UKMTO,” the agency said. It has logged 84 incidents in the strait since the conflict began, Anadolu Agency reported. On Oct. 11, six vessels were attacked in or near the strait, the most in a single day of the war.

Traffic is down. UKMTO counted 125 outbound and 129 inbound transits in the past week, compared with 129 and 146 the week before, and said shipping remains about 70% below pre-conflict levels.

Iran’s supertanker mine claims

The IRGC said the first supertanker, carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude, hit a mine that set off an explosion and a “fierce fire,” and that a second tanker hit a mine that engulfed it “in a massive blaze,” according to Al Jazeera, citing Iran’s IRNA news agency. Iran said both ships had switched off their positioning systems and used a route it had not authorized. Neither vessel was named, and the claims could not be independently verified, The Turkish Post noted.

IRGC navy commander Rear Adm. Ali Azmaei warned this week that any vessel that turns off its navigation systems would be treated as “hostile.”

U.S. Central Command says it has cleared the strait of mines and that ships are being hit by projectiles. It said the container ship GFS Pride, which sank earlier this week, was struck by an IRGC projectile, not a mine as Iran claimed. Analysts at the Critical Threats Project said Iran’s mine claims likely aim to reinforce the perception that routes outside Iranian control remain unsafe.

New tactics: small boats and grenades

UKMTO also reported a new type of attack. On Oct. 16, a tanker master said a small boat fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the ship about 78 nautical miles northeast of Jubail, Saudi Arabia, damaging the stern. Another tanker was hit by an unknown projectile about 68 nautical miles northeast of Jubail the same day.

The Critical Threats Project said the use of small boats and grenades suggests Iran still has trouble finding targets at sea after U.S. strikes on its coastal radar and communications towers. Both attacks happened outside the strait itself, after the IRGC threatened on Oct. 9 to hit ships “throughout the region” that use routes it has not approved.

Competing claims over who controls Hormuz

CENTCOM commander Brad Cooper said 400 ships and 100 million barrels of oil moved through the strait over the past week. “Let me be clear: The Strait of Hormuz is controlled by the United States and our regional partners, not Iran,” he said. The U.S. military says its blockade of Iranian ports has cost Tehran $25 billion in oil export income.

Market data show the strain. Oil flows through Hormuz averaged 11.6 million barrels per day in the week to Oct. 13, about 68% of the 17.1 million pre-war baseline, according to Kpler. Daily volumes swung from nearly 20.8 million barrels on Oct. 8 to 2.9 million on Oct. 11. Brent crude touched $110 a barrel on Friday for the first time since May.

President Donald Trump told Newsmax he would not use a nuclear weapon against Iran and did not see sending ground troops, adding that he believes a deal to end the war will come after the Nov. 3 midterm elections. U.S. media have reported that he ordered the military to be ready for bigger strikes, including possible use of the MOAB bomb.

Featured photo: The destroyer USS Preble patrols near the Al Basrah Oil Terminal in the northern Persian Gulf as a supertanker loads crude, Oct. 20, 2004. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 1st Class David C. Lloyd, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped). File photo.

Sources

• Al Jazeera: US and Iran both claim control of Strait of Hormuz amid attacks on vessels
• Al Jazeera: Iran says two tankers catch fire after hitting mines in Strait of Hormuz
• Critical Threats Project / ISW: Iran Update, October 17, 2026
• Anadolu Agency: Morning Briefing, Oct. 17, 2026
• The Turkish Post: Supertanker hits mine in Hormuz, Iran’s IRGC says