Sunday saw another vessel attacked in Persian Gulf regional waters. The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency (UKMTO) reported that a ship was struck by two projectiles some 83 miles east of Ras al-Khafji, which is the Saudi town on the Kuwaiti border in the northern Persian Gulf.
Signficiantly and unusually, this particularl attack occurred hundreds of miles from the Strait of Hormuz itself. Also, in this instance the vessel targeted was not a large tanker, but instead was a tug boat.
"On Sunday evening, an Emirati-owned offshore tug was hit by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, somewhere northwest of the Musandam Peninsula," The Maritime Executive reports. "Security consultancy Vanguard Tech has identified the vessel as the UAE-owned Selat Storm, an older offshore tug/supply ship of about 1,300 dwt."
The boat was soon after the attack observed to be "partially sinking" - the same maritime monitor report indicates. There's speculation that stepped-up Iranian attacks on shipping in the Hormuz Strait of the last several weeks has required an increase in the number of emergency tug operations, leading to these being targeted:
The status of the vessel's crew was not reported. It was the second likely Iranian attack on a tug in the Strait of Hormuz since October 18, when a projectile hit the Dutch-flagged tug JIF Barracuda - illustrating the hazards of the narrow waterway for vessels of all clas
