The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said on Monday it had received multiple third-party reports of a vessel on fire 63 nautical miles — about 116 kilometres — southeast of Al-Faw, Iraq, in the northern Persian Gulf, Reuters reported. UKMTO said the crew's status, the extent of any damage and any environmental impact were unknown at the time of the report, and that authorities were investigating.

Source: Reuters via Devdiscourse

UKMTO classified the Al-Faw report as suspicious activity rather than a confirmed attack, gCaptain reported, and the cause of the fire remains unclear. UKMTO advised vessels to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity while authorities investigate.

Source: gCaptain

In a separate warning issued on Monday, UKMTO disclosed a verified, time-late report that a tanker transiting outbound through the Strait of Hormuz was struck by an unknown projectile at 0839 UTC on 23 October, gCaptain reported. The impact disabled the vessel, although all crew members were reported safe. UKMTO did not identify the tanker or provide details of the damage, and no assessment of possible environmental impact was available.

Source: gCaptain

The Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC), in its latest advisory issued on 25 October, maintained a SEVERE threat assessment for the Strait of Hormuz, warning that further deliberate attacks were highly likely, and kept the wider Persian Gulf at SUBSTANTIAL, citing five attacks inside the Gulf since 7 October, gCaptain reported. JMIC reported 156 confirmed maritime security incidents across the region since 1 March — a figure published before UKMTO disclosed the latest verified tanker attack — and said Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps activity continues to include attacks, attempted attacks, drone overflights, surveillance and radio directions to commercial vessels, according to gCaptain's summary of the advisory.

Source: JMIC advisory via gCaptain

Shipping traffic remains heavily disrupted. JMIC reported 101 US-facilitated vessel transits between 22 and 24 October, compared with a historical average of about 138 vessels per day in 2025, and estimated about 492 vessels were waiting outside the Strait of Hormuz as of 25 October, with large concentrations near Fujairah and Khor Fakkan, gCaptain reported. The Maritime Executive, reporting the Al-Faw fire, noted Brent crude futures were hovering around $115 a barrel. A security consultant quoted by The Maritime Executive, Brett Erickson of Obsidian Risk Advisors, assessed the Al-Faw incident as the 10th suspected Iranian strike on a ship since the start of the month — an assessment, not a UKMTO finding; UKMTO has not attributed the fire.

Source: gCaptain / The Maritime Executive