MSC has confirmed that one of its vessels, the 4,800 teu MSC Sariska V, was hit by two “projectiles” last night, some 40 nautical miles south-east of the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr.
“The first hit while the pilot was on board as the vessel departed from port, and a second impacted the crew area soon afterwards,” the carrier said.
According to the UKMTO incident reporting centre, the second missile caused a firebon the ship which was extinguished by the crew.
“All crew members are safe, unharmed, and acted with exceptional professionalism throughout the incident to secure the vessel and its cargo,” MSC added.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming it was in response to a US attack on the Gambia-flagged bulk carrier Lion Star, which was en route to Iran. It further claimed the MSC Sariska V was owned by “an American-Israeli” firm.
“This retaliatory action is completely unjustified, since MSC is a neutral commercial carrier with no affiliation to the United States or Israel,” said MSC, insisting that the Panama-flagged vessel is under its ownership.
“Founded by Italian national Capt Gianluigi Aponte, the company is headquartered and domiciled in Switzerland and is wholly owned by his children, Diego and Alexa Aponte, both Italian nationals with no other citizenship.
“MSC is deeply concerned by these unprovoked attacks and the risk they create for its innocent seafarers and essential maritime trade in the region,” the world’s largest container shipping line said.
According to the eeSea liner database, MSC Sariska V had been deployed on MSC’s Gulf Shuttle feeder service before the outbreak of the conflict and has been trapped behind the Hormuz strait since.
The attack could force other carriers to rethink their Hormuz bypass strategies, given it took place deep inside the Gulf rather than as a response to an attempted Hormuz transit.
The trucking landbridge option from Jeddah to the Gulf appears to be increasingly difficult to maintain, given the capacity constraints – in recent days Gemini partners Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd have separately notified customers that they would no longer accept UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Iraq bookings through Jeddah.
While imports to Saudi destinations such as Jubail and Dammam would continue to be routed through Jeddah, imports for other Gulf countries will go via Khor Fakkan, then be trucked to Dubai and Sharjah, and then be loaded onto feeder vessels for onward transport to the Upper Gulf.