The incidents sent oil prices sharply higher, reigniting fears of trade disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, through which over a third of the world’s seaborne crude oil is shipped. Brent crude, the international benchmark for crude prices, rose 4% on Thursday to $62.37.
The attacks appeared to use relatively sophisticated weapons, according to early assessments, and came within roughly 45 minutes of each other in the Gulf of Oman, where four tankers were attacked last month in an incident the U.S. blamed on Iran, which Tehran denied. The U.S. military has built up its military presence in the Persian Gulf in response to what American officials said were threats from Iran, sending an aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, and its strike group to the region.
Damage to one of the tankers was extensive, including a fire and a hole at the water line that was consistent with a hit by a torpedo or other projectile, according to early assessments. The other ship, a Japanese tanker, was hit with a projectile in a series of assaults, Japanese officials said Thursday.
Both ships caught on fire, and their crews abandoned ship. Neither appeared to be in danger of sinking, authorities said. Both were carrying crude oil products headed for Asia. One tanker is operated by a Japanese company, according to Japanese officials.
Thursday’s attacks marked another in a series of skirmishes across the Persian Gulf that have escalated a crisis triggered by President Trump’s decision last year to pull out of a 2015 international deal to cap Iran’s nuclear program.
A missile fired by Iran-allied Houthi militias in Yemen injured 26 civilians at a southern Saudi airport on Wednesday, drawing Saudi accusations that the rebels directly targeted civilians. Last month, the Houthis took credit for damaging attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure. No one claimed responsibility for the attacks on four tankers in the Gulf of Oman last month, though the United Arab Emirates told the U.N. that the aggressor was most likely another country.
Iran has denied responsibility for any of the attacks. It accuses the U.S. of carrying out an “economic war” with a round of financial sanctions that have choked off most of its crude-oil exports and sent the country into a painful recession.
Until now, the Trump administration had been working to dim the prospect of military conflict with Iran, despite the military build up. Mr. Trump has told advisers he doesn’t want war with Tehran and has urged Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani to engage in talks.
The attack on a Japanese-operated ship came on the same day that Mr. Abe met with Mr. Khamenei to try to ease the standoff between the U.S. and Tehran. Mr. Khamenei dismissed Mr. Abe’s effort to initiate negotiations between Tehran and Washington, darkening prospects for dialogue.
The strikes on Thursday also represented the latest hazard for oil infrastructure in the Persian Gulf, where over a quarter of the world’s petroleum is produced every day.
Thursday’s incident alarmed Saudi officials, who worried the repeated attacks are revealing troubling security gaps around the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean beyond. Saudi officials not authorized to speak publicly said the kingdom would press the U.N. to open a wider investigation and examine more closely the role of Iran.
Iranian officials didn’t address who was culpable for the attacks. Iranian state media first reported the country’s vessels had helped evacuate the crew of the tankers but later clarified that ships passing nearby had come to the rescue.
The two tankers attacked on Thursday were the Front Altair, owned by Bermuda-based shipping company Frontline Ltd. , and the Kokuka Courageous, operated by Kokuka Sangyo Co. of Japan.
U.S. Naval Forces Central Command in Bahrain, which oversees U.S. naval operations in the region, received two distress calls about the attacks, one at 6:12 a.m. local time and another one at 7 a.m., said Cmdr. Josh Frey, a spokesman for the command. The USS Bainbridge, a destroyer, is rendering assistance.
After an initial attack with a projectile, there was a pause, followed by one or more attacks, said Norio Ishihara, a director at the transport ministry’s maritime bureau. At least one projectile hit the ship, he said, without identifying the type of projectile.
The 19,000 ton, 170-meter long ship carried 21 Filipino crew members, and all were safe, Mr. Ishihara said. The Kokuka was about 14 nautical miles from the coast of Iran when the attack happened about 70 nautical miles from Fujairah, on the east coast of the U.A.E.
Frontline said it was investigating how one of its vessels caught fire.