Khor Fakkan, UAE: tugboat hit by two unidentified projectiles

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Sunday, 18 October 2026, that a tugboat sailing south northeast of the port of Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates was hit by two projectiles of unknown origin. The attack is the latest in a wave of attacks on ships in the waters around the Strait of Hormuz.

According to the organisation, one crew member was slightly injured in the incident and the tugboat was damaged but continued on its way. The UKMTO has not named the vessel or the extent of the damage, and no group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

A wave of attacks on shipping

Khor Fakkan is on the coast of the Gulf of Oman, outside the Strait of Hormuz; an attack in this area shows that the risk to shipping has spread beyond the strait itself. On 9 October, too, a supertanker about 13 nautical miles west of the Al Jazirah area in the UAE was hit by an unidentified projectile and caught fire.

On Saturday, 17 October, the IRGC declared the Strait of Hormuz "closed" and on the same day claimed that a second supertanker in the strait had hit a mine; a claim no independent source has confirmed. Before that, a tanker in the Persian Gulf near Jubail, Saudi Arabia, was hit by RPG fire.

For its part, US Central Command (CENTCOM) says 97 percent of ships have passed through the Strait of Hormuz safely, and that since 14 July, in enforcing the naval blockade of the Islamic Republic, the United States has diverted the route of 138 vessels.

The attack on a tugboat at Khor Fakkan shows that the risk to shipping has reached beyond the Strait of Hormuz into the Gulf of Oman.