Flames rise during a fire casued by debris from an intercepted drone at the oil refinery hub in Fujeirah, United Arab Emirates, 04 March 2026. Iran continued to launch retaliatory attacks across the region following a joint US-Israeli military operation that started in the early hours of 28 February 2026, targeting multiple locations across Iran. (Photo: EPA / STRINGER) By Yomna Ehab, Muhammad Al Gebaly and Enas Alashray
The apparent strike is just the latest in a string of assaults on merchant vessels by missiles or explosive air and sea drones in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up over 2% at $115.17 per barrel in early Asian hours after the news of the attack on the tanker in Dubai, but retreated a bit after the Wall Street Journal reported that President Donald Trump is willing to end the war even if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.
Brent is on course for a 59% surge in March, its largest monthly gain on record due to the war in the Middle East.
Authorities in Dubai confirmed they were responding to a drone attack on a Kuwaiti oil tanker in Dubai waters and that maritime firefighting teams were working to bring the fire under control. No injuries have been reported, and the safety of all 24 crew members has been secured, they said.
Work is underway to accurately assess damage to the tanker, said KPC, which according to Lloyd's List Intelligence data is the parent company of Al Salmi's registered owner and commercial operator.
The tanker was loaded with two million barrels of oil from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, according to data from Lloyd's and TankerTrackers. Lloyd's listed the destination as Qingdao, China.
Iranian officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
Earlier on Monday, a Greek-owned container ship located off the coast of Saudi Arabia's Ras Tanura reported two separate incidents where projectiles hit water near the vessel, maritime security experts said.
A representative from the Liberian-flagged Express Rome reported two unknown projectiles splashing into the water near the container ship approximately 22 nautical miles (40.7 km) northeast of Ras Tanura at 1352 GMT. The incidents occurred within one hour of each other and the crew was reported safe, British maritime risk-management group Vanguard said.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps previously claimed to have attacked the Express Rome on March 11, Vanguard said.
The operator of Express Rome did not immediately comment.
No group has claimed responsibility for the strike on the oil tanker or the projectiles.
(Reporting by Muhammad Al Gebaly, Menna Alaa El Din, Elwely Elwelly, Yomna Ehab, Ankur Banerjee, Firouz Sedarat, Jonathan Saul and Lisa Baertlein; Editing by Tomasz Janowski, Matthew Lewis and Michael Perry)