Kuwaiti Tanker Kaifan Hit in Strait of Hormuz, Crew Abandons Ship

Tanker Struck Near Musandam Peninsula

Another tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz has reportedly come under attack, this time off the eastern side of the Musandam Peninsula. According to a report by The Maritime Executive, a VHF Channel 16 distress call was picked up by multiple parties at around 2010 UTC on Monday from a tanker roughly eight nautical miles northeast of Limah, Oman. The crew said they had been struck by an unidentified projectile.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center confirmed early Tuesday that the crew had abandoned the vessel and were adrift in a lifeboat awaiting rescue. Martin Kelly of EOS Risk Group identified the ship as the Kuwaiti-flagged product tanker Kaifan (IMO 9656046), noting that the crew described a drone or missile strike that triggered an engine room fire. Kelly pointed out the similarity to the weekend attack on the product tanker Kavomaleas, also attributed to Iranian forces.

Rising Risk for Gulf-Transiting Tankers

This incident adds to a growing pattern of attacks on commercial tankers moving through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical chokepoints for oil and product cargoes. While the vessels involved are typically owned by Gulf Cooperation Council states or Western companies, they are staffed by seafarers from labor-supplying nations such as the Philippines and India — crews who bear the direct physical risk of these incidents.

To keep vessels adequately manned despite the escalating danger, owners have reportedly begun offering steep incentive bonuses, in some cases up to half a year’s pay for a single round trip through the Gulf — roughly six times a normal monthly wage, according to Bloomberg as cited in the report. For an able seaman on a foreign-flagged vessel, that could mean an additional $15,000, nearly triple the average annual household income in the Philippines. For a master, the premium could reach $60,000 to $80,000 or more on top of standard tanker-market wages.

What This Means for Owners and Managers

These figures illustrate a difficult trade-off: seafarers are effectively waiving their established right to disembark from a high-risk voyage in exchange for a large one-time payout. For ship owners and managers, this raises operational and duty-of-care questions that go beyond simple wage economics. Crew willing to accept hazard bonuses may be doing so under financial pressure rather than a fully informed risk calculation, and the incentive structure itself signals that standard flag-state and P&I safety protections are being stretched to their limits in this corridor.

For technical superintendents and charterers, incidents like the Kaifan strike underscore the importance of pre-transit condition surveys and engine room inspections that go beyond routine class requirements. A vessel entering a known conflict zone should ideally have documented, up-to-date structural and machinery condition records — not only for insurance and total-loss claims, but also to establish a clear technical baseline in case of damage from an external strike. Independent surveys conducted before Gulf transits can also help owners and charterers assess whether a vessel’s firefighting and lifeboat systems are genuinely fit for emergency abandonment scenarios like the one reported here, rather than assuming compliance on paper is sufficient.

A Pattern Worth Watching

With the Kaifan attack following closely on the heels of the Kavomaleas strike, and with UKMTO and risk consultancies like EOS Risk Group now tracking a recurring profile of drone or missile strikes causing engine room fires, the Strait of Hormuz appears to be entering a period of sustained elevated risk. Owners transiting the strait should expect continued scrutiny of manning practices, insurance terms, and vessel condition documentation as this situation develops.

The broader maritime industry — including surveyors, insurers, and flag administrations — will likely be watching closely to see whether these repeated strikes prompt formal rerouting advisories, escort arrangements, or updated war-risk clauses for vessels operating in the area.

Reviewed by Ibrahim Halil Ceylan, Marine Surveyor at Apeks Marine.