At least four oil and gas tankers have turned back from attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz, ship-tracking data showed, as renewed attacks on vessels in ‌the critical waterway heightened safety and security concerns.

The diversions come after a Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker and a Saudi-flagged ⁠crude oil tanker were damaged near the strait yesterday following reports that Iran fired missiles at ships in the waterway, prompting maritime authorities to raise the ‌threat risk for transiting vessels to “severe.”

LNG tankers — Al Ghariya, Duhail and Al Ruwais — have all been inching westward towards ‌the Strait of Hormuz before changing course to turn away late ‌yesterday, according to data from analytics firms Kpler and LSEG. All ⁠three tankers controlled by QatarEnergy were empty and heading towards Qatar’s Ras Laffan export facility to load cargoes.

– Reuters