| Date | 30 Jul 2021 |
| Tracker | Strait of Hormuz Tensions |
| Type | Strike |
| Location |
Gulf of Oman
25.12, 56.33 (approximate) |
On July 29-30, 2021, the Liberian-flagged, Japanese-owned tanker Mercer Street came under a series of one-way drone attacks while transiting international waters off Masirah Island, Oman. Two drones missed on the evening of July 29; a third struck the vessel's pilot house on July 30, killing the ship's master, a Romanian national, and a security officer, a UK national. US Central Command's forensic investigation attributed the strike to Iran, matching drone debris to prior Iranian one-way attack UAVs. Iran denied involvement; the US, UK and Israel condemned the attack.
| Series | That day | Prior 30-day avg | Week after vs before |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transits | 84 -2% | 86.1 | +0% (617 → 616) |
| Tankers | 51 -7% | 54.7 | -2% (394 → 385) |
| Cargo ships | 33 +5% | 31.4 | +4% (223 → 231) |
| Date | Type | Incident |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Jan 2021 | Interception | Iran seizes South Korean tanker Hankuk Chemi near the Strait of Hormuz |
| 3 Aug 2021 | Interception | Armed boarders briefly seize tanker Asphalt Princess off UAE in foiled hijacking |
| 27 May 2022 | Interception | Iran seizes two Greek-flagged tankers, Prudent Warrior and Delta Poseidon, in the Persian Gulf |
| 27 Apr 2023 | Interception | Iran seizes two tankers, Advantage Sweet and Niovi, within a week in the Strait of Hormuz area |
IMF PortWatch data published on GMN's Strait of Hormuz tracker shows commercial ship transits averaging 3.17 a day over 1-6 September 2026, against 85.5 a day in 2025; other counters read higher, but every independent count is a small fraction of the pre-war norm.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard said on 8 September 2026 it had recovered a US Navy Anduril Dive-LD autonomous underwater vehicle at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz; US Central Command said the vehicle had malfunctioned more than a day earlier, and Anduril confirmed the loss.
The United States decommissioned its four Bahrain-based Avenger-class mine hunters in September 2025 and shipped the hulls home in January 2026. When Iran began mining the Strait of Hormuz two months later, according to CENTCOM, the Navy had to sail two of its last four minesweepers from Japan.