Kuwait Oil Tanker Company’s VLCC Kazimah III was struck by a projectile while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the company’s second VLCC hit in four days and part of a renewed series of attacks on commercial tankers. Separately, a projectile strike at Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu port temporarily suspended tanker loading before operations resumed. The incidents increase pressure on both Hormuz and Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea export route, which has become increasingly important for reducing reliance on the strait. The IMO had recorded 85 attacks on commercial shipping in and around Hormuz by September 24, before the latest series of strikes.
