Day 201 — The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations reported a tanker struck by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz in the early hours of Friday; UKMTO said the fire was extinguished and the crew are safe (via Al Arabiya English and Al Jazeera). A second vessel, the 7,119 dwt Togo-flagged product tanker Trend, has drawn competing accounts since Sep 17: Iran's Revolutionary Guards say it was struck after what Tehran called an illegal transit attempt, per Splash247 relaying that claim, while IRNA, Iranian state media, reports the vessel was stopped. No operator, flag state or port authority has published a pollution assessment for either. AAA's national diesel average set a fifteenth consecutive all-time high at $6.4476/gal and California diesel a fresh state record at $8.3945/gal in the reading stamped 9/18/26. Shipowners have ordered more than twice as many supertankers this year as in all of 2025, a spree worth over $20B and the largest in at least 25 years (MarineLink; Reuters). IMF PortWatch's most recent published day remains Sep 13, at eight transits, about 9% of the pre-crisis norm.
Day 201: UKMTO reported a tanker struck by an unknown projectile in the strait, its fire extinguished and crew safe; national diesel set a fifteenth consecutive record at $6.4476/gal.
Brent Crude
+41.3% since closure
$103.38
/bbl
Today: −$1.44 (−1.4%)
U.S. Gas Avg
+49.0% since closure
$4.47
/gal
Today: +$0.03 (+0.7%)
WTI Crude
+47.1% since closure
$101.52
/bbl
Today: −$0.39 (−0.4%)
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IMF PortWatch weekly row — does transit leave single digits?
