Ship Struck in Hormuz as Oil Supertankers Turn Back Again
A ship was hit by an unidentified projectile in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday in the first reported attack since an interim US-Iran peace deal, marking a setback to efforts to restore traffic through the vital energy thoroughfare.
Container ship Ever Lovely was struck on the side and sustained damage to its bridge while it was sailing along a recommended route, Taiwanese operator Evergreen Marine Corp. said in a statement. The Singapore-flagged, medium-sized vessel has now exited the narrow waterway, and was in the Gulf of Oman as of Friday morning, ship-tracking data show.
In an alert issued not long after the attack, UK Maritime Trade Operations advised ships to “transit with caution.” The agency acts as a liaison between military forces and merchant vessels, and is supporting a United Nations-led effort to move ships out from the Persian Gulf.
Oil prices, which had earlier returned to prewar levels, turned higher on the news, with Brent crude touching session highs close to $76 a barrel after the attack. Thursday’s strike comes after a period of relative calm in the aftermath of a preliminary agreement between Washington and Tehran that reopens the chokepoint and has prompted an increased number of transits.
Iran’s foreign affairs ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A White House official said it was too soon to say who had struck the ship. Speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, the official said that the US was looking into which party was responsible, including whether it was an action ordered by high levels of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or a rogue decision by lower-level personnel. There were no deaths or environmental damage reported.
President Donald Trump did not address the episode, but at a White House dinner for farmers on Thursday night, he said Iran would soon be buying US wheat and soybeans. “That process is going to be starting pretty soon. It’s going to be pretty big too,” he said.
The attack has rattled the fragile confidence of shipowners and crews, though ships continued to transit through the narrow corridor on Friday. Tehran has repeatedly said that ships can’t pass Hormuz without its permission, and a handful of tankers turned around early on Thursday after reportedly getting warnings from the Iranian Navy.
UKMTO WARNING 074-26 – ATTACK
Click here to view the full warning.⤵️ https://t.co/0hDEAb7xO9#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/HlPzQDLBja
— UKMTO Operations Centre (@UK_MTO) June 25, 2026
Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority said Thursday that any transit occurring in routes outside its framework would not be eligible for insurance coverage or be protected by “safe-passage guarantees.”
Vessels had been racing out of Hormuz since an interim peace deal between the US and Iran came into effect last week, quickly adding millions of barrels of crude supply. Gulf energy producers, meanwhile, have begun ramping up production as flows through Hormuz appeared to be holding up.
Following the attack on Thursday, the International Maritime Organization, the United Nations’ global shipping regulator, said it was pausing its evacuation operations in the strait.
“I have been informed of an attack today in the Gulf of Oman on a vessel which passed through the Strait of Hormuz,” IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said in a statement. “This vessel did not transit under IMO’s evacuation framework. I have always reiterated that the safety of the seafarers remains paramount. Therefore, to ensure a coordinated approach and navigational safety, the evacuation plan will be paused until further clarity is obtained.”
The organization said on Tuesday that it had received safety guarantees that could allow hundreds of ships to exit the Persian Gulf through the strait. Still, even before the IMO plan was announced, there were already signs that traffic was picking up.
Two key exit routes through Hormuz have emerged over the past several weeks because the normal one through the middle is thought to have been mined. One is near Iran, while the other hugs Oman’s coastline and is protected by the US.
A few hours before the attack, at least three commercial vessels, including two oil supertankers, appeared to turn around while attempting to exit Hormuz on the Oman side. Shipping intelligence company Windward Maritime said the U-turns came after IRGC instructed vessels to turn around using radio calls and social media platforms.
Not all followed suit even after the strike, however, according to tracking data compiled by Bloomberg, with several continuing their exits.
Traffic through Hormuz has quickly picked up after an interim peace deal between the US and Iran took effect last week.
Photograph: Oil tankers and cargo vessels anchored off the coast of Oman on June 23, 2026; photo credit: Elke Scholiers/Getty Images