The war on merchant shipping in the Middle East has taken a worrying geographical turn, with casualties reported aboard a tanker attacked off Qatar, hundreds of miles west of the Strait of Hormuz, while a containership has also come under fire in the Red Sea.

The Antigua and Barbuda-flagged oil/chemical tanker Acers (IMO: 9301902) was struck by multiple projectiles on Wednesday evening, approximately 51 nautical miles north of Madinat ash Shamal, Qatar, according to maritime security firm Vanguard.

UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) confirmed the attack at around 1900 UTC, reporting casualties but providing no details on their number or severity.

Most attacks since Iranian strikes on commercial shipping resumed on September 28 have been concentrated around the Strait of Hormuz. Wednesday’s incident, deep inside the Arabian Gulf, marks the first reported attack outside the strait during the latest escalation. It raises the prospect of a much larger area of the Gulf becoming a maritime combat zone, threatening ships serving oil and gas terminals in Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq.

The attack also comes amid an increasingly intense campaign against merchant shipping, with at least a dozen tankers and gas carriers reportedly targeted around Hormuz between September 28 and October 5.

Reports are also emerging of another possible strike, with the Marshall Islands-flagged VLCC Dhalkut reporting a fire approximately 22 nautical miles east of Fujairah. The ship is operated by Asyad, and is on charter to Trafigura.

Meanwhile, security concerns are mounting again in the Red Sea. The 2,400 teu CUL Klang, operated by China’s CU Lines, came under attack at approximately 0615 UTC on Wednesday while transiting northbound through the southern Red Sea. The containership was reportedly fired upon by armed craft near Yemen’s Mocha coast. Its crew escaped unharmed.

The incident comes amid renewed fighting in Yemen, raising fears of another deterioration in security around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

Sam Chambers