New Attacks in Gulf Region Raise Alarm Over Shipping Stability

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported two separate attacks in the Gulf region within the past day, including a tanker struck near the anchorage at Sohar port in Oman and a vessel hit during an outbound transit through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has also threatened to target data centers and internet cables across the Middle East should the broader conflict escalate further. In Saudi Arabia, the international airport was struck for a second time in a Houthi drone attack, with casualties reported in both incidents. The Houthis additionally attacked the airport at Dammam, located on Saudi Arabia's eastern coast along the Persian Gulf, demonstrating an expanded reach to targets on the opposite side of the kingdom from their usual Red Sea theatre of operations. According to maritime analyst Lars Jensen, these developments expose a risk not fully priced in by supply chain stakeholders. Container shipping has settled into an apparently stable pattern in recent months, with the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed but cargo moving overland via Gulf of Oman ports across the UAE, while Red Sea traffic has been gradually normalizing back toward Suez routing. Jensen noted that the recent strikes demonstrate that both the Houthis and Iran retain full capability to disrupt these flows at will — the Houthis could again force a shift to round-Africa routing, while Iran could strike the terminals used for the Hormuz overland bypass. Currently, both parties are choosing restraint, meaning the stability of regional shipping flows depends entirely on their continued decisions not to escalate. The source places the current crisis at day 1,057 for the Red Sea and day 226 for the Hormuz situation.