The first major LNG hit of the war
On July 7, a Qatari LNG tanker was hit near the Strait of Hormuz and reported an engine-room fire, sources told Reuters in a report carried by gCaptain. The vessel, Al Rekayyat, sent distress calls after a strike on its port side. One source said the ship was at risk of exploding because of the fire. The crew was safe and being evacuated.
In a recorded radio call reviewed by Reuters, the captain said: “Mayday mayday mayday. This is vessel Al Rekayyat, LNG vessel Al Rekayyat. We are being hit by drone on port side, top of engine room. Status: engine room fire and full of smoke. Unable to assess further damage.”
It was the first reported strike on an LNG ship from Qatar, a mediator in US-Iran talks, since the war opened at the end of February.
Second tanker damaged
A Saudi-flagged tanker, believed to be the supertanker Wedyan, was also damaged off Oman’s coast, maritime security sources said. The cause was not immediately confirmed in public. Al Rekayyat is owned and managed by Nakilat, Qatar’s main LNG shipping operator. Wedyan is owned and managed by Saudi shipping firm Bahri.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said initial indications were that Iran had fired at two commercial vessels. Qatar’s foreign ministry said Tehran bore full legal responsibility for the LNG tanker attack. Tehran did not immediately comment in the same reporting cluster. There was no immediate public claim of responsibility.
A third vessel diverted
In a separate incident the same day, a Liberia-flagged LPG tanker believed to be the Al Maryah was ordered by Iranian forces to change course and sail closer to Iran’s coast after trying to transit via Omani waters, a maritime security source said. Abu Dhabi oil company ADNOC, linked to the vessel’s management, declined to comment on vessels in its fleet, according to the same report.
Why the June MOU was already under water
The attacks landed less than three weeks after the mid-June 14-point memorandum that was supposed to restore safe commercial passage. Shipping sources told Reuters the “start stop” reopening of Hormuz was still injecting volatility into tanker markets. Traffic had recovered only to about 25-40 ships a day, against a pre-war average near 125.
One source summarized the trap created by dual corridors: use Iranian waters and accept Iranian control, or use a US-Oman channel and risk being hit anyway. “The U.S. gives you permission to pass, but if something happens on the way, they then say, it is your decision to keep moving or go back.”
Average daily rates to load a ship inside the Gulf jumped toward almost $300,000 a day after falling below $200,000 the previous week, shipping sources said. Early Tuesday traffic through both sides of the strait fell to seven ships from 25 on Monday, according to Kpler analysis cited in the same report.
What followed
These July 7 incidents are the bridge from the June MOU’s paper reopening to the mid-July US decision to reimpose the Iranian blockade and claim guardianship of Hormuz with a cargo toll. The maritime front, not the nuclear annex, is what cracked the pause first.
Sources
- Reuters via gCaptain, Andrew Mills, Maha El Dahan, Jonathan Saul, Marwa Rashad, July 7, 2026: Al Rekayyat fire and mayday; Wedyan damage; US official indication; Qatar MFA statement; traffic and rate data
- Cross-check with later July 13 Al Jazeera reporting on renewed blockade and the collapse of MOU maritime provisions
