Attacks on ships in Strait of Hormuz 'could be higher than official count'

Attacks on ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz are more common than official figures suggest, as some go undeclared by the ship's owners, the head of the UN's maritime agency warned on Monday. At least 125 ships have been attacked in the Strait of Hormuz and neighbouring water since the US-Iran war began in late February, according to the International Maritime Organisation. The pace of incidents has quickened with 34 recorded in October.

But the real figure could be higher, as <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/energy/2026/10/23/us-lifting-sanctions-on-dark-fleet-not-expected-to-solve-tanker-crisis/" target="_blank" rel="" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/energy/2026/10/23/us-lifting-sanctions-on-dark-fleet-not-expected-to-solve-tanker-crisis/">ships flying false flags</a> or under fraudulent registers tended not to declare attacks, the IMO's leader Arsenio Dominguez said.

An increase of the shadow tankers "going dark", by not turning on their Automatic Identification System, was "creating a little bit of a difficulty of getting the real numbers of the vessels", Mr Dominguez said at the start of the IMO's annual council session on Monday. "It's mostly those that are ghosting themselves, and the ones that have fraudulent registries, false flags in some ships," he said. Information was often corroborated when countries nearest the attacked ship were called in to provide assistance.

"When the ships are being attacked, normally one of the countries in the region has to provide some assistance and have to come to the rescue," Mr Dominguez said. He added that he could not confirm reports that mines allegedly laid by Iran in the channel had been cleared. US Central Command leader Admiral Brad Cooper said last week that primary shipping routes on the Strait of Hormuz were now free of mines, despite conflicting Iranian claims.

"There's no confirmation that there are no mines in the region, so I cannot guarantee that is safe. That's why we're not recommending anyone to go through the Strait of Hormuz, and I keep saying for the ships to stay away from it," Mr Dominguez said. An estimated 350 to 400 ships remain stranded in the Arabian Gulf since the onset of the war. Renewed hostilities along the Red Sea, after the Houthis began attacking Saudi-linked ships crossing the Bab Al Mandeb strait, also led to an increase in piracy attacks off the coasts of Somalia and Aden. <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2026/10/31/attacks-on-ships-transiting-hormuz-in-october-highest-since-start-of-war/" target="_blank" rel="" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2026/10/31/attacks-on-ships-transiting-hormuz-in-october-highest-since-start-of-war/">Attacks on commercial vessels</a> in and around the Strait of Hormuz in October reached the highest monthly level since the Iran-US war began.

At the same time, traffic continues. About 12 ships a day could be passing the Strait of Hormuz, despite repeated warnings by the IMO that it was not safe to cross, Mr Dominguez said on Monday. Shipping insiders say that while registered ships usually cross along the coast of Oman, shadow fleets tend to cross along the Iranian coast. These two routes, along shallower waters, emerged as a result of Iran's blockade. The IMO has rejected Iranian calls to introduce a toll for passage along the Strait of Hormuz.

But Mr Dominguez appeared to back an alternative proposal being fleshed out by Iran and Oman that would see shipping companies pay "voluntary contributions" to cross the channel. This would resemble a contribution in the Strait of Malacca to protect ships from piracy. "Nothing official has come out from those negotiations yet," Mr Dominguez said of the Omani-Iranian proposal, answering a question from <i>The National.</i> "Once the conflict is over, we can look at the mechanisms within international law that have been established in other parts of the world."

Mr Dominguez said the proposal "could be viable" and did not contradict the laws of the sea, but that it would ultimately be up to the IMO's member states to approve it. "The way that I see it is how do we address some of the concerns that the countries have made about the need for support in relation to safeguard the safety, security and environmental protection of the region, and for the services that are provided to international shipping," he said.

"It's just putting forward any suggestions, any proposals, any solutions that allow us to actually address concerns. If that is one of those mechanisms, it could be a viable one." The IMO records suggest there have been four attacks on commercial vessels by Yemen's Houthi militia in 2026. In the Gulf of Aden and Western Indian Ocean there have been multiple attempted acts of piracy with 19 confirmed attacks so far in 2026.