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An couple of interesting reports from Qatari Al Jazeera, the first is regarding the stance of the UAE and the other Gulf States and the US friction that appears to be building tween the Allies in the region


This second is in regard to the Iranian ships Touska and Hasna that have been attacked by the USN, and other aspects of shipping within the Strait


Both of the above have been released today, within the last few minutes to be exact. They do bring questions about what exactly is going on, whether or not the ceasefire is holding and what the relative "sides" are thinking and doing. Everything seems to be very tangled, to put it lightly.

There seems to be some confusion in regard to whether or not two USN ships were hit this week during the first day of Project Freedom and whether it was the USN or UAE that attacked various places in Iran yesterday during the transit of 3 US warships through the Strait of Hormuz.

According to Maritime Executive via CBS, USS Mason and USS Truxtun were hit whilst they escorted ships on the initial attempt of Project Freedom. Now we are told that the reason behind halting Project Freedom was issues tween the US and Saudi Arabia, which incidently do not seem to be completely settled yet. However, you do have to wonder if the halting of Project Freedom was part due to Saudi Arabia and part due to two USN ships being hit...and the issue that the US is possibly vetoing any operational decisions that might place US military in danger, specifically ships as noted in post 5761 above.

Maritime Executive have also raised the question of who shot what last night. The general media led by social media have said that the US opened fire on Qeshm, Bandar Abbas, Minab, Gachin, Bandar e Khamir and Sirik. However, there is an Iranian news agency - Tasnim - who saying that it wasn't the US but that it was the UAE who mounted the attacks. The US keeps repeating that the ceasefire is holding, Iran claim that it isn't....if the UAE have taken it upon themselves to attack Iran independantly, that makes for an entirely new mess.

Amidst Ceasefire, U.S. Launches New Strikes on Bandar Abbas and Qeshm (Maritime Executive - May 7, 2026)

Given the attacks Iran made on them, it's hard to blame them for taking a few shots back across the Gulf.

Tankers and other Iranian ships subject to sanction by the US.....

We already know about Touska (containership) that was disabled by the USN firing at it and rendering the engineroom severely damaged as a result.

Then came along Hasna which I mentioned earlier today that had its rudder effectively amputated by an F/A-18 from the Abraham Lincoln.

Now another tanker has met with a slightly confusing and bizarre situation. The Iranians call her Ocean Koi, but according to AIS her name is Jin Li (ex Ocean Koi). She was apparently stopped under US sanction by the USN in the Gulf of Oman but has now been seized by Iran under a judicial order. I have to admit to being slightly puzzled by this, so I hunted down the Iranian news agency Tasnim to see if they could make sense of what was going on with the ship......and frankly, it is as clear as mud.

Iranian Navy Seizes Violating Oil Tanker in Sea of Oman (Tansim News Agency, Iran - May 8th, 2026)

The ship in question is currently showing as being off the Sohar anchorage, Oman


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I suspect that KSA & GCC (after Trump) initially swallowed the line that regime change would take place shortly after Feb 28 — making life better for all around including Iranians long under the boots of the IRGC.

Didn't happen.

Iran has little capacity to directly retaliate against Israel and the US; so has to target what it can reach: Hormuz and KSA & GCC infrastructure.

We now see KSA & GCC becoming choosy as to what missions they will allow in their airspace as they realize that they will remain stuck dealing with the IRGC that will hit them whenever Israel or the US hits Iran.
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Nobody likes being consigned to collateral damage fodder.

The latest from Sal




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The Maritime Executive are reporting that two more Iranian tankers have been disabled by F/A-18 aircraft in the Gulf of Oman, this time from USS George H W Bush, these disablements have been confirmed by CENTCOM. No names have been released of the tankers as yet, but the tactics have changed in that instead or hitting the rudder or engineroom, the latest method to disable the ships is to shoot their stacks off. No updates on any of the now 3 tankers to have had parts shot off them in regard to casualties or if they have been seized by USN personnel. I shall keep an eye on this and update as / when information is released.

Further to this story can be found : U.S. Navy Fighter Jet Disables Two More Iranian Tankers (Maritime Executive - May 8, 2026)

It should be noted that the stack is not the cleanest part of the ship, shooting them off the ship can potentially cause pollution in what is a very fragile area when it comes to sealife.

As to the Strait of Hormuz, nothing appears to be moving in either direction this morning. The Strait remains closed to all traffic, the only ships moving are small cargo ships belonging to Iran that are in the Khasab-Larak / Ramchah line. There has still been no sighting on AIS of the CMA CGM San Antonio, which is concerning.

One slightly unusual aspect are that ships (and there are a few hundred of them) that are using Mina Saqr, Ras-al-Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain, Sharjah, Dubai and Jebel Ali anchorages have almost all gone dark on AIS, possibly a case of if they cannot be seen, they cannot be hit should the hostilities restart.


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Traffic seems to be moving freely through Bab-al-Mandab. No incidents have been reported, it does have to be noted that there are 3 or 4 patrol type ships out of Djibouti in the area. There has been a report of a dhow that had been taken by Somalian pirates and had been confirmed as being used to attack general shipping in the Gulf of Aden / Bab-al-Mandab area has now been abandoned by the piracy group due to the increase of civilian and military activity working to stop such incidents. The dhow had effectively been the mother ship for skiffs and at least one VLCC approached at the end of April this year.

On the image of Bab-el-Mandab below taken a few minutes ago, the pale blue arrows are Djibouti patrols

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At the other end of the Persian Gulf, an extremely large oil slick has been seen via satellite close to Kharg Island. Images, including the one below, were captured by European Copernicus Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-3 satellites tween May 6th and May 8th. Estimates of 3000 barrels worth of oil stretching for more than 20 miles.

Large oil slick detected off key Iranian oil depot, satellite images show - (Khaleej Times - May 9th, 2026)


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It should be noted that Kharg is very close to protected wetland and nature reserves, this slick is endangering those areas. The US is not denying that they have hit the island and Iran have not admitted releasing oil on purpose....both are very much possible.

This should of course be balanced against the many times in recent years when Iran has boarded and seized ships transiting the Gulf and used drones to attack shipping within and without the Hormuz Strait.

Another Iranian ship, Vina, has managed to, so far, evade the US blockade. She is an LPG / chemical tanker currently off Fujairah anchorage. A second LPG tanker has also been spotted but remains unnamed that has also, so far, evaded the US blockade. Both ships carry Iranian LPG from Iran to Yemen and are in ballast and effectively on their way home. Both ships were spotted by TankerTrackers and their information available widely, so perhaps the USN will intercept them at some point before they can enter the Strait of Hormuz for homeports in Iran.

Note....Vina is an ex Maersk (Maersk Humber) owned ship now registered in Botswana, she was built in 1998. Oddly she is also listed as named as Valley. Both names share the same IMO number, thus the same ship.

Vina, seen below, on AIS May 6, 2026.


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Are the Iranians really likely to mess on their own doorstep though?

The problem thay have is where do they put the oil that is coming from the wells. They can't get empty tankers into the Persian Gulf due to the USN blockade across the Gulf of Oman. They are running out of oil storage due to not being able to export it due to the lack of tankers and the damage received to their storage facilities and refineries during hostilities. They can't shut the wells down as that potentially damages them to such an extent that they cannot be reopened once hostilities have ceased, which is explained very well here Why Does It Matter if Iran Shuts In its Oil Wells? (Maritime Executive - May 6, 2026).

So, potentially opening the stopcocks on the pipelines and releasing oil could be a way of not only releasing the pressure but also a way of contaminating the sea around Kharg Island as some form of defence, perhaps....afterall oil on water will burn, hypothetically any attack on the island that falls short maybe ignites the floating slick.

Anything is possible. The environmental damage will be immense regardless of reason for the slick or who is responsible for it.

to make money for themselves and to save money for shipowners of course

Flag of convenience. There are thousands of ships that are owned by companies and shell companies who use FoC's. Generally means less inspections, less rigidity in safety and crew welfare / wages. Explained in more detail here Flags of Convenience - The scourge of maritime (International transport Workers Federation)

Very interesting read - thanks, BonnieLass . Presumably the same problem applies to the other Gulf states too? Are there any empty tankers trapped in the Gulf or have they all been filled over the last two months?

There are a couple of movements in the Strait of Hormuz.

One is an Iranian owned / flagged oil products tanker, Maoming. She left Bandar Abbas on April 29 and only just activated her AIS, she is going to Asaluyeh in Iran. The other is an LNG tanker, Al Kharaitiyat, owned by Nakilat Shipping Qatar, flagged Marshall Islands. She left the Fateh Oil Field (UAE) on May 5th and is going to Port Qasim in Pakistan.


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BonnieLass
Just for info, oil on water is unwilling to burn as the Royal Navy discovered in the Torrey Canyon disaster which sent thousands of tons of crude into the English Channel. My friend Giles, one of the Buccaneer pilots who attacked with incendiaries and napalm, told me that the oil certainly burned around the ordnance but "the damn stuff just wouldn't stay alight no matter what we tried". Thanks for your hard work in keeping us in touch with shipping aspects of Trump's disaster.

I remember the Torry Canyon all too well and the immense damage done.......and I agree in regard the issues of burning a spill, it was quite the sight watching the efforts with that shipwreck.

There are various opinions as to the type of oil....is it raw crude from a leak in the oil pipeline to the nearby oil field (it last sprang a leak in late 2024)...is it refined oil or oil product...no-one has managed to identify it or where it came from as yet. It is heading towards Saudi Arabian territorial waters if it remains spreading in the current direction. Whatever type of oil it is and where it originated, it needs urgent dispersal treatment by someone to prevent further damage.