Two more oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz were hit with projectiles overnight Sunday, as military activity between the U.S. and Iran continues to escalate in the surrounding area.
A Liberia-flagged supertanker called the Acheloos, and a Malta-flagged fuel tanker, the Kavomaleas, were both struck in the conflict-ridden waterway, according to ship manager Dynacom Tankers Management. Dynacom said the Kavomaleas was hit with two separate projectiles.
All crew members are safe and accounted for, Dynacom said. The Acheloos has proceeded to anchorage while assessments take place, while the Kavomaleas was evacuated due to a fire in its engine room.
On early Monday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency reported the projectile strikes on the Kavomaleas, noting that it caused a fire off the Omani coast.
Ships are still attempting to travel through the Strait of Hormuz, even as the U.S. and Iran trade military strikes. On Sunday, American forces carried out a ninth straight night of attacks on Iranian targets, with Iran having launched a string of its own strikes over the weekend on U.S. military targets at its Gulf allies including Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait.
Thirty vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz from Friday to Sunday, with 10 sailings on July 17, 12 on July 18 and eight on July 19, according to data from ship tracking intelligence firm MarineTraffic.
According to various media reports, Qatari mediators have proposed a new 10-day ceasefire to try and revive some aspects of the memorandum of understanding signed by the countries in June, including the end restrictions on shipping passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Last month’s 14-point framework collapsed early in June after Iranian attacks on vessels in the strait prompted the U.S. to retaliate with its own airstrikes.
Leadership in Iran including President Masoud Pezeshkian cast doubt on the possibility of a new ceasefire going into effect, indicating that the Islamic republic remained in a “full-scale war” with the U.S.
“For maritime users…the diplomatic track should be treated as contested rather than stabilizing,” said Dimitris Ampatzidis, maritime risk and compliance manager at MarineTraffic in a Monday update. “The key question is no longer only whether the MOU can support predictable passage, but whether the parties can re-establish any credible de-escalation mechanism while physical attacks and route uncertainty continue.”
As shipping safety in the Strait of Hormuz remains under ongoing threat, there are newer concerns that attacks on vessels could extend further to the Red Sea.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis are imposing a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia effective immediately, their military spokesperson said in a televised speech on Monday.
In a statement, the militant group declared “a maritime embargo against the criminal Saudi enemy, based on the equation of ‘an eye for an eye.’”
A post on X from Nasruddin Amer, the deputy head of the Houthi Media Authority, the Yemeni armed forces would close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Saudi ships. The strait is the southern chokepoint between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, where many of the Houthi attacks on shipping took place throughout 2024 and 2025.
It is unclear if the warning is expected to impact Saudi-flagged ships only, or all cargo of Saudi origin.
“If it covers all Saudi cargo, every Asia-bound barrel from Red Sea ports has to run south through the Bab el-Mandeb, where the Houthis have attacked before,” said maritime intelligence firm Windward. “If it’s limited to Saudi-owned vessels, exposure is far smaller: only three Saudi-owned very large crude carriers (VLCCs) are currently tracked in the Red Sea.”
The Houthis already instituted a ban on Israeli shipping through the Red Sea earlier in the Iran war, but the Yemeni faction has not attacked any ships in the conduit since the conflict has broke out.
Maritime security firm Ambrey identified Saudi Arabian ports on the Red Sea as being at a high risk of a Houthi attack.
This month, even amid the unraveling of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, Maersk has brought more individual services back to the Red Sea. With vessel-sharing alliance partner Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk resumed the joint AE15/SE3 service through the Suez Canal route.
Following the Majestic Maersk container ship’s successful passage, the U.S.-flagged Maersk Denver will voyage through the channel under the carrier’s solely operated India-Middle East-U.S. East Coast (MECL) service. The vessel, which departed from Oman’s Port of Salalah on Sunday, is expected to arrive at the Suez Canal by Thursday.
The MECL service initially returned to the Red Sea in February, but Maersk rerouted ships on the service back around southern Africa’s Cape of Good Hope as hostilities in the Middle East broke out.
MarineTraffic called the regional risk environment “elevated” across both chokepoints.
The company began monitoring Bab el-Mandeb traffic on Wednesday, noting that there were 209 verified crossings in the first five days it tracked shipping. On Sunday, 42 vessels passed through the strait, supported by a broad mix of bulk carrier, tanker, container, livestock, ro-ro and general cargo movements.
