A ship that was sailing through the Strait of Hormuz has been hit by a projectile of unidentified origin, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Office (UKMTO, for its acronym in English) which communicated this on Sunday. For now, it has not been made public whether the incident has caused casualties or damage to the vessel.
"The UKMTO received a report about an incident in the Strait of Hormuz. An unknown projectile struck a ship while it was crossing the strait," the organization pointed out in a statement released on social media.
The British agency has indicated that it still lacks data on the status of the crew, the extent of possible damage to the ship, or the environmental consequences that the impact may have caused.
As a safety measure, the UKMTO has urged ships transiting the area to enhance vigilance and to immediately report any movement or behavior they consider suspicious, while authorities continue with the investigations.
The new alert comes after the UKMTO itself warned on July 12 that the risk to commercial navigation in the Strait of Hormuz remained "serious." At that time, the British organization emphasized that, despite Iran's announcement regarding the closure of the strait, the route located south of Hormuz continued to be operational for maritime traffic in both directions.