Two commercial vessels were struck in the Strait of Hormuz this week and a third ship has been reported missing, keeping pressure on the world's most important oil chokepoint even as Qatari mediators said progress had been made toward ending the war between the United States and Iran.
The Bermuda-flagged LNG tanker Gaslog Shanghai, carrying a cargo from Qatar, was among two vessels reported hit in the strait, according to Bloomberg and Arab Times Kuwait. A separate tanker near Oman was struck by an unknown projectile, CNBC reported.
The Liberian-flagged bulk carrier Minoan Pioneer has been reported missing after being hit by an unknown projectile northeast of Oman, according to Seatrade Maritime News.
Qatari mediators said progress had been made in efforts to end the conflict, Reuters reported. The Kuwaiti defense ministry separately said its military had detected and intercepted Iranian drones entering the country's airspace.
Traffic through the strait has continued despite the attacks. Shipping data from the analytics firm Kpler shows that Iraq exported more than 30 million barrels of crude through the waterway between July 4 and August 4, according to Asharq Al-Awsat.
President Trump said this week that he was involved in negotiations to reopen the strait and that an agreement could be reached soon, though he later said no deal on Hormuz had yet been concluded.
An Iranian parliamentary committee has been considering legislation that would formally bar American, Israeli and other vessels the government designates as hostile from transiting the waterway.
The war began on February 28 with US and Israeli strikes on Iran. Iranian forces and allied groups have since fired on Gulf states and disrupted energy shipments across the region.