Reports of a ship attack near Hormuz reached a record high as oil exports dropped
A BBC Verify analysis of data from a British maritime agency found 12 ships were hit in one week.
Confirmed by Joshua Cheetham, Thomas Copeland and Alison Benjamin, BBC
BBC Verify's analysis of data from a British maritime agency shows that the number of ships attacked in and around the Strait of Hormuz has reached a record high.
12 ships were attacked between October 5 and 11 - the highest number of weekly attacks reported to the UK Maritime Trade Operations Agency (UKMTO) since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran. In the past week, 10 ships reported attacks.
According to the UKMTO, six ships were hit last Sunday - a one-day high. So far this week, four attacks have been reported.
Industry data shows that the recovery in oil shipments through the strait seen last month has slowed as the number of strikes has increased.
BBC Verify collated the incident reports published by the UKMTO on its website and created a timeline based on the first date mentioned in each report. This is approximate because some incidents use the date of the attack and some the date it was reported.
Experts say Tehran has attacked the ships in an attempt to exert more control over the waterway, as the US military has increased the number of tankers passing through the strait south to escape Iranian attacks.
According to experts, Iran is also carrying out more attacks on ships further away from the Strait of Hormuz.
The US military's Central Command oversees operations in the Middle East and posted on social media that despite the attacks, "commercial traffic continues to flow through the Strait of Hormuz with the coordinated protection of US forces and regional partners."
Two crew members went missing after one of the attacks on Sunday
In the aftermath of one of the six reported attacks Sunday, certified footage showed the Nicaraguan-flagged tanker Petro Delfin on fire, as filmed by its crew on a smaller boat nearby.
The vessel was hit by a drone near the port of Sohar, Oman, more than 250 kilometers (150 miles) from the strait, according to Vanguard Maritime Intelligence.
The Leading Seamen's Union of India announced that 11 Indian seafarers were rescued but two are still missing.
The attacks continued this week with the sinking of the container ship GFS Pride after being hit by unidentified gunfire in the strait on Tuesday. Twenty one crew were evacuated safely.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps published pictures of the sinking of the same ship. It said the ship was carrying "2,500 containers of contraband" and had taken an "unauthorized course".
As the number of ship attacks has increased, Middle East oil exports have decreased.
About 12.6 million barrels per day passed through the strait on Oct. 13, down from 15 million barrels reported at the end of September, data from trade intelligence firm Kpler showed. This compares to a pre-war baseline of 17 million barrels per day.
The recent surge in attacks comes as US Navy data shows that the number of ships assisted to navigate the Strait of Hormuz in the first 10 days of October rose by 85 percent compared to the same period in August.
Most of the oil shipped recently from the Arab Gulf states is transported using the "shuttle" system, in which fleets of tankers load and pass through the strait before transferring their cargoes to larger tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
These shuttle ships use a route close to Oman's coastline. Iran says this is "unauthorized" and insists the ships take an alternative route closer to its coast.
The so-called auxiliary transit was a key factor in helping oil flows from the Middle East return to pre-war levels in September. This does not include Iran's exports, which have been completely halted as a result of the US blockade of Iranian ports and ships.
Martin Kelly, managing director of Risk Intelligence, said Iran had "evolved its strategy" in response to its reduced control over the strait, launching "almost daily or multiple attacks every day".
He added: "The goal here is to stop ships and deter others.
According to state media reports, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' navy said the attacks would not be "limited to the Strait of Hormuz" and later announced it had "new deployments" across the region.
Martin Kelly told BBC Verify that Iran is expanding its attacks, targeting ships near the coasts of Arab states in the Persian Gulf and in the Gulf of Oman.
According to Vanguard, an oil tanker was hit by multiple projectiles on Thursday, October 8 north of Qatar, more than 500 kilometers (310 miles) from the strait, resulting in several reported casualties.
Another oil tanker was attacked near the UAE city of Al Jazeera Al Hamra on Friday, October 9, Vanguard said.
Confirmed footage shows crew members running from the deck and donning life jackets as a huge cloud of black smoke rises above the ship.