It was the second reported projectile strike on a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz in five days. The M/T Al Dasma was hit while transiting the waterway on Wednesday, October 21 local time, and the ship is now at anchor about 11 nautical miles west of the town of Bukha, Oman, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported.
No one was hurt. Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal said on X that all 21 Indian crew members, along with the rest of the crew, are completely safe, and that authorities remain in contact with the ship management company.
Key numbers
- 21 Indian seafarers aboard the Kuwait-flagged M/T Al Dasma, all reported safe
- 11 nautical miles (about 20 kilometers) west of Bukha, Oman, where UKMTO located the stricken tanker
- 15 Indian seafarers aboard the crude oil tanker MT ST 3, struck by a projectile in the same strait on October 16, with no casualties reported
What the reports confirm, and what they do not
UKMTO described the weapon only as "an unknown projectile" and said a fire started aboard, according to Hellenic Shipping News. Citing Times Kuwait, Orissa Post reported that the fire was later extinguished and that the tanker remained stationary.
None of the reports I read says who fired, or names the cargo the vessel was carrying. The Al Dasma is described as an oil product tanker, which carries refined fuels rather than crude.
The strike follows what Orissa Post calls a series of commercial shipping incidents in the Gulf. India has repeatedly condemned attacks on commercial shipping and merchant mariners as "legally and morally indefensible", the report said, and has pressed for freedom of navigation through international waterways.
Why a single tanker matters to oil traders
The Strait of Hormuz is the sea passage between the Gulf and the open ocean that loaded tankers must use to leave the region. A strike there is read as a risk to the route itself, not only to one ship.
In plain words: oil is priced partly on how reliably it can be moved. When a vessel is hit in a narrow passage that most Gulf cargoes have to cross, owners and insurers reassess whether to send ships through, and any reduction in sailings tightens the supply reaching buyers. That is why an incident involving one tanker is followed closely by anyone trading crude or refined fuels.
Neither report gives a price move in crude or natural gas following the strike.