The International Maritime Organization’s highlighted-incidents board, as at Wednesday, 21 October, now prints 119 confirmed incidents in the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Middle East, with 24 confirmed seafarer fatalities. Tuesday’s dedicated board piece on this desk sat at 114 as at 19 October. The fatality line has not moved. What moved is the count and three new named rows at the top of the table. IMO now prints AL DASMA, IMO 9653446, dated 20 October, Strait of Hormuz, second attack, damaged, no pollution; JIF BARRACUDA, IMO 9345506, dated 18 October, northeast of Khor Fakkan, UAE, damaged, no pollution, one seafarer injured; and LOYALTY, IMO 9182306, dated 16 October, 78 nautical miles northeast of Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia, damaged, no pollution. Those three lines are the first official IMO prints on a KOTC tanker that NAVAREA IX and UKMTO put on a Wednesday Hormuz fire, on the tug that sat as Sunday’s unnamed Warning 177-26, and on the tanker that sat as Saturday’s unnamed Warning 175-26.
The count is an IMO product. It is not a UKMTO warning, not a JMIC Update 107, and not a rewrite of the dedicated 175-26 RPG PDF, the dedicated 177-26 tug PDF, or Tuesday’s 114-count / ST3 piece. UKMTO’s recent-incidents board now also carries Warning 180-26, a separate northern-Arabian-Gulf Attack off Al Faw that is not on this highlighted sheet. Update 106 remains the last numbered public JMIC note, JMIC# 001 26, ICOD 181300 UTC 18 October, Hormuz SEVERE, Arabian Gulf SUBSTANTIAL, 153 incidents since 1 March on the JMIC counter. That is a different 153 from IMO’s 119. Masters who brief Wednesday as Update 107, as UKMTO finally printing Loyalty or Jif Barracuda on the original PDFs, or as a completed 16–21 October tape will have misread the instrument.
What the 21 October board actually adds
Tuesday’s page was 114 confirmed incidents, 24 dead, with ST3 as the operational naming of that snapshot and with GFS PRIDE, GFS GISELLE, AL SAADIYAT, DP WORLD KAVERI, KITION M, EVER VICT, AL MAQAM, ANGOLA PROSPERITY and PETRO DOLPHIN already on the sheet. Wednesday’s page is 119. The increment is five confirmed incidents. Three new named rows sit at the top of the table. IMO has not printed a public explanation for the other two. Do not invent them. Do not treat the +5 as a silent conversion of 176-26, 178-26 or 180-26. Those files are still not named on this board.
The first new row is AL DASMA, IMO 9653446, 20 October, Strait of Hormuz, second attack, damaged, no pollution. That is the first official IMO print on this week’s Hormuz fire. It is not a first naming of the hull. The same sheet already carried AL DASMA, same IMO, dated 7 September, southeast of the Strait of Hormuz, damaged, no pollution. Wednesday’s line is a second-attack increment on a tanker that was already on the board. IMO does not print a projectile, a fire, a coordinate pair, a heading, a crew count, a UKMTO warning number or a NAVAREA. Hold the IMO date of 20 October beside the NAVAREA IX issue time of 210145 UTC on 21 October. They are two official clocks on one hull, not two incidents.
The second new row is JIF BARRACUDA, IMO 9345506, 18 October, northeast of Khor Fakkan, UAE, damaged, no pollution, one seafarer injured. That geometry and casualty line match dedicated Warning 177-26: unnamed southbound tug, 18 October, time TBC, northeast of Khor Fakkan, two unknown projectiles, damage, continuing on route, one minor casualty. Update 106 withheld the name UFN and labelled the file “Strait of Hormuz” against UKMTO’s UAE east-coast / western Gulf of Oman offset. Clearwater and World Ports had already matched the Dutch Jifmar tug as industry colour. Wednesday is the first official IMO print. It does not print 177-26. It does not print a tug, a flag, two projectiles or “continuing.” Put the IMO name on the company file. Do not brief a UKMTO PDF that prints the hull.
The third new row is LOYALTY, IMO 9182306, 16 October, 78 NM northeast of Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia, damaged, no pollution. That range matches dedicated Warning 175-26: unnamed tanker Attack, 16 October 1922 UTC, RPG from a small boat, 78 NM northeast of Al Jubayl, damage to the aft port quarter, crew accounted for and reported safe, complete damage assessment and environmental impact unknown at time of report. MSCIO Alert 148/26 reprints the same 1922 UTC / 78 NM RPG clock in the Arabian Gulf. IMO does not print RPG, a small boat, an aft-port-quarter survey, a crew-safe line or 175-26. It prints damaged, no pollution. That is a tighter environmental finding than the PDF’s “unknown.” It is not a completed class survey. Ambrey’s Tanzania-flagged crude colour remains industry colour, not an IMO flag or cargo print. Do not assign Loyalty to Warning 174-26 / ST3. That file is 68 NM from Al Jubail, already named on Tuesday’s 114-count.
The rest of Tuesday’s sheet is still there. ST3 remains 16 October, IMO 9220964, 68 NM from Al Jubail, damaged, no pollution. GFS PRIDE remains sunk, no pollution, Strait of Hormuz, dated 13 October. GFS GISELLE remains damaged, no pollution, 6 NM from the coast of Oman. PETRO DOLPHIN remains two seafarers missing at Sohar Anchorage. CAPE DAO, IMO 9219020, remains damaged, no pollution, one seafarer fatality, partially sunk, 15 nautical miles northeast of Khasab; Update 106 still did not treat that hull as sunk. Cameroon Prosperity is still printed with the eight-digit IMO typo 93151598; the working seven-digit number on earlier dedicated files is 9315159. The fatality total is still 24. None of those rows is the 119-count move. The move is the five-incident increment and the three new names at the top.
Al Dasma is a second-attack row, not a first naming
NAVAREA IX 393/26, issued 210145 UTC on 21 October, is the working coastal-warning primary on the fire. The message is labelled Strait of Hormuz, charts BA 2888, 3174 and Oman OM1219. It prints oil tanker AL DASMA involved in a security incident causing fire and drifting in 26-09.02N 055-56.1E, approximately 11 nautical miles west of Bukha. Mariners cautioned. That coordinate sits on the Omani Musandam side of the Strait, not in the central Arabian Gulf off Jubayl and not 30 nautical miles southeast of Al Faw. UKMTO, as carried by Clearwater, Reuters, AFP / Times of Israel and Arabiya English, reported that the tanker was struck by an unknown projectile about 11 nautical miles west of Bukha, that the fire has been extinguished, that the tanker is now at anchor, that all crew are reported safe, and that there is no reported environmental impact. Authorities continue to investigate. UKMTO’s recent-incidents board, as read for this piece, still listed 180-26 as the latest numbered Attack and 178-26 as the latest Advisory. It did not yet print a numbered Al Dasma warning. Stay with the NAVAREA, the UKMTO wires and the IMO row. Do not invent 181-26.
Marisks, as carried by Riviera, said at its clock that the cause of the fire had not been established and that it had no official confirmation of a projectile, drone or other weapon. That is a security-house reservation, not a NAVAREA or IMO finding. Stay with UKMTO’s unknown-projectile line and with IMO’s damaged / no-pollution print. Ambrey’s 6.1-nautical-mile west-of-Bukha offset and “AIS not transmitting” colour remain industry colour. Do not replace the NAVAREA’s 11-nautical-mile, 26-09.02N 055-56.1E geometry with a private range. Riviera’s KOTC ownership line matches ClassNK’s register extract and is open-register colour only: Kuwait flag, port of registry Kuwait, official number KT 1779, call sign 9KFM, MMSI 447187000, oil carrier, built 23 June 2014 at Daewoo, about 249.9 metres, 63,066 gross tons, 109,719 deadweight. That is an Aframax-size crude tanker, not a VLCC. Sister KOTC hulls already on this board include AL FUNTAS, IMO 9653408, 28 September, and KAZIMAH III, IMO 9329693, 1 October. Do not collapse Wednesday’s fire onto those dedicated first-attack files.
Hold the first-attack row. IMO already printed AL DASMA on 7 September, southeast of the Strait of Hormuz, damaged, no pollution. Wednesday’s “second attack” language is the official increment. It does not reprint the September damage survey. It does not say the ship had completed repairs. It does not say the ship was laden. A DPA who treats 9653446 as a new name will under-read the sheet. A DPA who treats the 7 September row as this week’s fire will over-read it.
Operational implications
For CSOs, Wednesday is the first IMO sheet that names the Jubayl night RPG tanker, the Khor Fakkan tug, and this week’s Hormuz fire. Charterers, P&I and war-risk underwriters who have been holding 175-26 and 177-26 as unnamed UKMTO products can now point to Loyalty and Jif Barracuda on the IMO board. They still cannot point to UKMTO PDFs that print those names. They still cannot point to Update 107. The board’s pollution line on all three new rows is “no pollution.” On Loyalty that is tighter than 175-26’s unknown environmental impact. On Jif Barracuda it matches the dedicated tug file’s silence on cargo. On Al Dasma it matches the UKMTO “no reported environmental impact” wire and does not close a survey. IMO printed neither a refuge port, a return-to-passage, a wreck nor a NAVAREA number against any of the three. NAVAREA IX 393/26 remains the Al Dasma fire-and-drift caution. NAVAREA IX 373/26 remains the GFS Pride sink caution. NAVAREA IX 380/26 remains the Cape Dao sinking-and-drifting caution. NAVAREA IX 383/26 remains wrap on dedicated 176-26.
The 119-count is also a reminder of what IMO has not yet taken. Warning 176-26 remains an unnamed LNG tanker Attack off Al Mukalla. Advisory 178-26 remains an unnamed tanker-and-military-forces product 121 nautical miles east of Duqm. Warning 180-26 remains an unnamed tanker Attack 30 nautical miles southeast of Al Faw and is the subject of a separate piece on this desk. Warning 174-26 remains an unnamed PDF even though ST3 is on the board against the 68 NM Al Jubail geometry. A master’s pack that treats 119 as “the weekend and Wednesday tape is now official” will over-read the board. A pack that leaves Al Dasma, Loyalty or Jif Barracuda off the IMO sheet because the original UKMTO PDFs were unnamed will under-read it.
Replace the 19 October 114-count snapshot. Do not replace Update 106. ICOD remains 181300 UTC 18 October. Hormuz remains SEVERE. The Arabian Gulf remains SUBSTANTIAL. Al Dasma sits after that cut-off, in the Strait, with a fire that the NAVAREA said left the tanker drifting before UKMTO said it was at anchor. Loyalty sits in the central Arabian Gulf on the same day as ST3 but at 78 NM, not 68 NM. Jif Barracuda sits on the Khor Fakkan coast that Update 106 labelled Strait of Hormuz. IMO’s 119 is not JMIC’s 153. Do not recast 21 October as Update 107, a 175-26 or 177-26 PDF naming, a 176-26 conversion, a fatality-count move, a Cape Dao sink revision, a rewrite of Tuesday’s ST3 piece, or a Hormuz reopen.
What Operators Should Note
- Log the 21 October IMO board, not a UKMTO naming. 119 confirmed incidents as at 21 October. 24 seafarers dead, unchanged from Tuesday’s 114-count. Replace the 19 October snapshot in the master’s pack. Do not replace JMIC Update 106. ICOD remains 181300 UTC 18 October. Hormuz remains SEVERE. Arabian Gulf remains SUBSTANTIAL. IMO’s 119 is not JMIC’s 153. There is no Update 107.
- Treat Al Dasma as a second-attack IMO row plus a NAVAREA fire caution. IMO 9653446, 20 October, Strait of Hormuz, second attack, damaged, no pollution. First-attack row remains 7 September, southeast of the Strait, damaged, no pollution. NAVAREA IX 393/26, 210145 UTC 21 October, fire and drifting at 26-09.02N 055-56.1E, about 11 NM west of Bukha. UKMTO wires: unknown projectile, fire extinguished, at anchor, crew safe, no environmental impact. Open-register colour only: Kuwait, KOTC, about 249.9 m, 109,719 dwt, call sign 9KFM. Not a VLCC. Not 180-26.
- Treat Loyalty as an IMO print, not as a 175-26 PDF naming. IMO 9182306, 16 October, 78 NM northeast of Al Jubail, damaged, no pollution. Dedicated Warning 175-26 remains an unnamed Master Attack, 1922 UTC, RPG from a small boat, aft port quarter, crew safe, damage and environment unknown on the PDF. MSCIO 148/26 reprints that RPG clock. IMO does not print RPG or 175-26. Do not assign this hull to ST3 / 174-26.
- Treat Jif Barracuda as an IMO print, not as a 177-26 PDF naming. IMO 9345506, 18 October, northeast of Khor Fakkan, damaged, no pollution, one seafarer injured. Dedicated Warning 177-26 remains an unnamed southbound tug, two unknown projectiles, damage, continuing, one minor casualty. Update 106 still withheld the name UFN. Clearwater / World Ports matching was industry colour. Put the IMO name on the company file. Do not brief a UKMTO PDF that prints the hull.
- Leave 176-26, 178-26 and 180-26 off this sheet. 176-26 remains the dedicated Mukalla LNG skiff. 178-26 remains the dedicated Duqm Advisory. 180-26 is a separate unnamed Al Faw Attack on this desk and is not a named IMO row. 174-26 remains an unnamed PDF; ST3 stays the dedicated 17 October ministry piece and the dedicated 20 October 114-count naming.
- Keep wreck and fire cautions on the NAVAREA products. NAVAREA IX 393/26 is the Al Dasma fire-and-drift caution. NAVAREA IX 373/26 remains Pride. NAVAREA IX 380/26 remains Cape Dao, still “partially sunk” on this snapshot. Petro Dolphin remains two missing at Sohar; stay with the official 11/9/2 Indian count unless the flag or UKMTO revises it. Cameroon Prosperity still carries 93151598 on the board; working number 9315159. Do not recast 119 as a Hormuz reopen or as a completed pollution survey.
Regulas Shipping will keep lining the IMO highlighted-incidents board against UKMTO numbered products and JMIC Update 106 so operators can treat Wednesday’s 119-count and the new Al Dasma, Loyalty and Jif Barracuda prints as an IMO instrument, not as a UKMTO naming or a Hormuz reopen.
