As Attacks Mount, Shipping Faces an Uncomfortable Question: Are Safety Rules Fit for War?
October has become the worst month on record for attacks on merchant ships in and around the Strait of Hormuz, and oil is now washing onto the beaches of the United Arab Emirates.
Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran, May 22, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
By Paul Morgan (gCaptain) – October has become the worst month on record for attacks on merchant ships in and around the Strait of Hormuz, and oil is now washing onto the beaches of the United Arab Emirates.
The engineering question that follows is uncomfortable: were the ships under fire ever designed, equipped or crewed to survive what is happening to them?
On 23 October, Reuters reported data from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy recording 28 confirmed and reported attacks in the Strait and surrounding waterways during October, and 113 since the US-Israeli war with Iran began on 28 February. The institute has tracked maritime security incidents worldwide since 2017, and October tops its records.
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