Two Abu Dhabi National Oil Company tankers were attacked by drones while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday evening, prompting the United Arab Emirates to blame Iran for acts of piracy. The UAE Foreign Ministry condemned the strikes as a flagrant violation of global energy security, while regional shipping faces ongoing disruptions.
ADNOC Vessels Targeted in the Strait of Hormuz
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company confirmed that two of its vessels sustained attacks while passing through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday evening, according to reports from Abu Dhabi’s state-owned energy operator. The company stated that the incident caused no injuries and that the situation has been brought under control.
This event follows a separate incident less than a week prior, when the UAE condemned an earlier attack on a vessel linked to the state oil company within the same waterway.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center reported that two vessels suffered minor damage from drone strikes while transiting the vital channel. While the British military did not explicitly identify the ships as ADNOC carriers, the details match the timeframe and location described by UAE authorities. The strait serves as the passage through which approximately a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flows from the Persian Gulf.
UAE Foreign Ministry Condemns Attacks as Piracy
The United Arab Emirates Foreign Ministry directly blamed Iran for the strikes, characterizing them as a flagrant violation
of United Nations principles concerning freedom of navigation. Officials asserted that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had committed acts of piracy by using commercial shipping lanes as instruments of economic pressure.
Neither the UAE Foreign Ministry nor state news agency WAM released specific details regarding the identities of the targeted vessels, their precise cargoes, or the extent of any physical damage sustained during the drone strikes. Iran’s Foreign Ministry and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued no immediate response to the accusations.
Broader Regional Shipping Disruptions and Energy Markets
Commercial shipping through the narrow waterway between Oman and Iran has faced repeated disruptions since the outbreak of the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran on February 28. These security concerns have driven up freight rates across maritime trade routes.
