Cargo ship ‘attacked’ in Strait of Hormuz: Projectile hits vessel, forcing crew to evacuate, after US destroyed 16 Iranian minelaying warships to prevent waterway closing

A cargo ship was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz.

The attack by an ‘unknown projectile’, reported at 4.35am GMT, occurred 11 nautical miles north of Oman and resulted in a fire on board.

Maritime watchdog UKMTO said the crew evacuated the ship.

He added: ‘Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity to the UKMTO while authorities continue to investigate.’

No group or army has yet claimed responsibility.

The maritime authority also said it received a separate incident report off the coast of the UAE, in which the captain of a container ship reported damage from a suspected but unknown projectile.

It comes like this:

• American forces destroyed 16 Iranian minelayers near the Strait of Hormuz
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia may send troops to Iran to fight US and Israeli attacks
• 4 people were injured when two Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles crashed near Dubai International Airport.

American forces destroyed 16 Iranian minelayers near the Strait of Hormuz

The White House has previously warned that if Iran mines the Strait of Hormuz, it will be hit at an “unprecedented level” amid concerns the regime could target the important oil waterway.

US forces destroyed several Iranian naval ships, including 16 minelayers, near the Strait of Hormuz on March 10. US Central Command announced at Xalong with a video showing some of the strikes.

The Strait of Hormuz is the only sea passage between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

The minesweepers near the Strait of Hormuz were among several Iranian ships removed by US forces on Tuesday.

The military released figures and secret images of some ships after Donald Trump warned Iran against laying mines in the critical waterway.

The United States and Israel launched airstrikes overnight on Iran in the Middle East on Wednesday, as the beleaguered government in Tehran warned that state security forces stood ready with “fingers on the trigger” to counter any anti-government protests.

Fighters renewed attacks on opposing targets in Israel, Lebanon and the Gulf as the war entered its 12th day after exchanging some of the heaviest bombardments in the region on Tuesday.

The conflict has effectively blocked vital shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz, halting the flow of a fifth of the world’s fossil energy resources from the oil-rich Gulf.

Global energy prices fell after a big rise in crude oil prices on Monday and stock markets rebounded as investors bet U.S. President Donald Trump will try to end the war soon.

Emergency personnel work at the site of an Israeli airstrike targeting a building in the Aisha Bakkar neighborhood of Beirut on March 11, 2026

The International Energy Agency has proposed the release of the largest oil reserves in its history to further stabilize crude oil prices, boosting optimism in the market, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing officials with knowledge of the matter.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. Still, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has vowed to block oil shipments from the Gulf unless U.S. and Israeli attacks end. And air strikes between the two sides showed no immediate signs of abating.

Further complicating the matter, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that Russia could be the first country to send troops to Iran to fight against the United States and Israel, following reports that Moscow was sharing intelligence with Iran.

Vladimir Putin denied providing information that would have helped Iran target American forces in the Middle East during a phone call with Donald Trump earlier this week.

This comes after the Washington Post reported that the Kremlin had communicated the locations of American military assets, including warships and aircraft, to Iran.

President Zelensky said today that Russia may send troops to Iran.

Millions of Israelis were repeatedly driven into bomb shelters overnight as the military warned that Iran was firing missiles at Israel; This is a sign that Tehran retains the capacity to strike Israel after nearly two weeks of fighting.

As air raid sirens blared and the Israelis advanced towards safe rooms and shelters, the sounds of explosions from air defense systems intercepting rockets punctuated the pre-dawn darkness.

There is no statement yet on whether any of the missiles reached the ground.

Iranian armed forces spokesman Abolfazl Shekarchi on Wednesday called on regional countries and their Muslim brothers to become “US-Zionist” [Israeli] Hideouts to maximize the precision and impact of Iranian attacks while also minimizing harm to civilians, who it said were “used as human shields,” according to Defapress, a military-affiliated news outlet.

Shekarchi also said Iran would respond to recent US-Israeli attacks on populated areas.

The latest attacks from Iran roughly coincided with a new Israeli bombardment of Beirut, aimed at rooting out the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, which has been firing on Israel from Lebanon in solidarity with the Tehran government.

Last week, Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iran’s religious leader in US-Israeli attacks.

Authorities said two Iranian drones crashed near Dubai International Airport, injuring four people although flights continued.

Dubai Media Office, which made a statement on behalf of the city-state government, said that the attack caused ‘minor injuries to two Ghanaians and a Bangladeshi citizen, and moderate injuries to an Indian citizen’.

It was stated that the flights continued.

Dubai International Airport, home to long-haul airline Emirates, is the world’s busiest airport for international travel. Even though the airport was targeted in the war, authorities are trying to establish the flight schedule.

More to follow.