{"id":107783,"date":"2026-03-01T20:27:02","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T23:27:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shipping.einnews.com\/article\/896720890"},"modified":"2026-03-01T20:27:02","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T23:27:02","slug":"shipping-suspended-as-gulf-conflict-widens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/03\/01\/shipping-suspended-as-gulf-conflict-widens\/","title":{"rendered":"Shipping suspended as Gulf conflict widens"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Staff Reporter<\/p>\n

SHIPS have dropped anchor across the Gulf as turmoil spreads following United States and Israeli military strikes on Iran, triggering retaliatory attacks, maritime security incidents and heightened fears over global energy supplies.<\/p>\n

The escalation began after the US\/Israeli launched a wave of strikes on Iranian targets over the weekend, deploying Tomahawk cruise missiles and, for the first time in combat, low-cost one-way attack drones reportedly modelled on Iranian designs. Iran condemned the attacks as unprovoked and illegal, responding with missile fire directed at Israel and at least seven other countries, including Gulf states hosting US military bases.<\/p>\n

Conflicting claims emerged over an alleged Iranian missile strike on the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier operating in the region. Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guard said it had struck the vessel with four ballistic missiles in the Gulf, warning that \u201cthe land and sea will increasingly become the graveyard of the terrorist aggressors.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, a US official told Al Jazeera that the missile did not reach the USS Abraham Lincoln and caused no damage, adding that the carrier continues its operations in the Arabian Sea.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that American forces struck an Iranian Jamaran-class corvette at the start of what it called Operation Epic Fury. According to CENTCOM, the vessel was hit at a pier in Chah Bahar in southern Iran and is sinking in the Gulf of Oman.<\/p>\n

Maritime security concerns intensified after multiple vessels were reportedly struck by projectiles. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency reported that a ship was hit off the coast of Oman. Maritime security sources later identified the vessel as the Marshall Islands-flagged crude oil tanker MKD VYOM, which was reportedly struck about 44 nautical miles northwest of Muscat while carrying cargo.<\/p>\n

In a separate incident, UKMTO said another vessel was hit by an unknown projectile 17 nautical miles northwest of Mina Saqr in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. A fire broke out but was extinguished, and the vessel intended to continue its voyage.<\/p>\n

The widening conflict has sent shockwaves through global energy markets. Shipping data showed that at least 150 tankers, including crude oil and liquefied natural gas vessels, dropped anchor in open Gulf waters beyond the Strait of Hormuz, with dozens more stationary on the opposite side of the strategic chokepoint.<\/p>\n

The vessels were clustered off the coasts of major Gulf oil producers, including Iraq and Saudi Arabia, as well as Qatar, one of the world\u2019s largest LNG exporters. Approximately 20% of global oil supplies pass through the Strait of Hormuz, alongside significant volumes of LNG from Qatar.<\/p>\n

Several tanker owners, oil majors and trading houses have reportedly suspended crude oil, fuel and LNG shipments through the Strait after Tehran indicated it had closed navigation routes, raising concerns about further disruption in one of the world\u2019s most critical energy corridors.<\/p>\n

Sources: Reuters\/Al Jazeera<\/p>\n

PICTURED: The USS Abraham Lincoln U.S. Navy\/Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jesse Monford. Photo: US Central Command<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… northwest of Muscat while carrying cargo<\/span>. In a separate incident, UKMTO … shockwaves through global energy markets. Shipping<\/span> data showed that at least …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107783\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}