Oil tanker attacked near the Strait of Hormuz... British Maritime Trade Organization announced

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Oh Soo-jin = An oil tanker was hit by an unknown projectile near the Strait of Hormuz on the 2nd (local time), the UK Maritime Trade Organization (UKMTO) said.

UKMTO said there was a report from the captain that the ship was hit 4 nautical miles east of Oman, and that all crew members were safe. To date, no environmental damage has been reported.

UKMTO did not disclose detailed information such as the name, nationality, and route of the vessel. It has not been confirmed who the attacker was.

Since the start of the war with Iran in late February, Iran has taken control of the Strait of Hormuz and has been steadily attacking merchant ships, saying that ships without its permission cannot pass through it. Because of this, the number of merchant ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz plummeted, and crude oil exports to the Middle East were also hit hard.

However, there are claims that Saudi Arabia has been steadily exporting crude oil out of the Middle East through oil pipelines along the Red Sea coast, and recently, the 'crude oil shuttle service' operated by Middle Eastern countries in safe waters has been effective, almost restoring pre-war crude oil exports.

JP Morgan's global raw materials research team estimated in a recent report that crude oil exports from the Middle East amount to an average of 17.5 million barrels per day.

JP Morgan explained that this is a figure estimated by adding up all crude oil exports through the Gulf Sea (Persian Gulf) and the Red Sea, and is equivalent to 98% of the pre-war volume.

As it was reported that the volume of liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz reached the highest level since the start of the war with Iran last month, some analysis was raised as to whether Iran's grip may have been loosening.