Bloomberg: Projectile Hits Gas Tanker Carrying Qatari Cargo While Crossing Strait of Hormuz
A liquefied natural gas tanker carrying a shipment from Qatar was hit by a projectile while crossing the Strait of Hormuz, threatening further disruption to global gas supplies.
A liquefied natural gas tanker carrying a shipment from Qatar was hit by a projectile while crossing the Strait of Hormuz, according to security intelligence firms and ship tracking data, as reported by Bloomberg on Saturday. This development threatens further disruption to liquefied gas supplies through the most vital waterway for global energy trade.
Security consulting firms Vanguard Tech and Marisec identified the vessel as the tanker 'GasLog Shanghai'. The British Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) had earlier announced that a ship was hit in the strait off the Omani coast overnight without identifying it, confirming that no environmental impact has been recorded so far.
According to tracking data collected by Bloomberg and the Kepler platform, the tanker loaded its cargo from Qatar around July 27 and stopped transmitting its navigation signal on July 31 near the western entrance of Hormuz. It appears to have been sailing without a tracking signal at the time of the incident. The Greek company GasLog, which operates the tanker, did not respond to a request for comment outside of official working hours.
A Fifth of Global Supplies Under Threat
The ongoing conflict in the region has disrupted the movement of liquefied gas through the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of global flows of this fuel pass. A Qatari gas tanker was hit near the strait in early July, forcing Qatar — the world's second-largest exporter of liquefied gas — to suspend its shipments through the passage for three weeks.
In a separate alert today, the British authority mentioned that another tanker reported detecting an explosion in the waters nearby without suffering any damage.
This comes days after another GasLog tanker, 'GasLog Salem', was hit by a drone last Wednesday while docked at the port of Damietta in northern Egypt. No party has claimed responsibility for the attack so far — an assault condemned by the Kingdom in a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, affirming its full solidarity with Egypt and support for all its measures to safeguard its sovereignty and security.