Civilian ships hit in Iran-Israel ‘shadow war’

Dramatic rise in assaults on oil tankers and cargo vessels as tensions risk spilling into open conflict

The attacks have steadily risen, amid warnings that both countries are on the brink of open war

‘If the price of crude is $75 a barrel and there’s two million barrels in there, you’re talking huge, huge money’

AT LEAST 20 civilian ships have been attacked by mines, drones and commandos in a rapidly spiralling “shadow war” between Iran and Israel, analysis by The Sunday Telegraph has found.

The assaults on oil tankers, cargo ships and other vessels have escalated sharply over the past six months and shipping industry and security experts fear an undeclared naval conflict destabilising some of the world’s busiest trade routes.

Last week the “shadow war” turned fatal for the first time when a suspected Iranian kamikaze drone killed British father of one Adrian Underwood and the unnamed Romanian captain of the tanker Mercer Street.

The shadow war, as its name suggests, is shrouded in mystery and has so far gone unacknowledged by Israeli and Iranian leaders. But it appears to have begun in earnest on May 2 2019, not far from the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia.

Saudi authorities said an Iranian tanker, Happiness 1, lost control of its engine and was left drifting some 70 nautical miles southwest of Jeddah.

Since then, other vessels linked to either Iran or Israel have been struck by missiles, attacked with limpet mines, or fallen victim to mysterious explosions with increasing frequency.

Analysis by The Telegraph found that the attacks have steadily risen year-onyear since 2019, amid warnings that the countries are on the brink of open war.

In 2019, there were three reports of attacks on ships linked to either Israel or Iran, though details of the incidents were scant at the time. In 2020, Iranian ships were attacked at least six times.

The incidents have soared since February this year, when Israel accused the tanker Emerald of carrying out an “eco terrorist attack” by deliberately and illegally spilling oil that drenched 100 miles of Israeli beaches in thick tar.

Mohsen Baharvand, Iran’s ambassador to London, said last week that there had been 11 Israeli attacks on Iranian cargo vessels this year. Israeli sabotage is also suspected of sinking the Kharg, Iran’s biggest navy ship, in June.

Three attacks, on the container ship Shahr E Kord, the alleged intelligence cargo ship Saviz, and the tanker Wisdom, have been made public. The Iranian embassy did not respond to an emailed request for further details of the other eight.

Four Israeli-linked ships, including the Mercer Street, have been struck in the same period.

The clandestine war in the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean is just one front in a wider conflict being waged with drones, spies and cyber divisions on both sides.

Sources familiar with Israel’s military strategy say it has adopted an asymmetrical approach where an Iranian strike on a ship may be met with a cyberattack on its infrastructure.

In May 2020, a cyber attack at the Iranian port of Shahid Rajaee plunged shipping lanes into chaos.

For Iran, confrontation on the high seas offers a relatively low-risk, high profile way of striking back at other attacks when it feels it must assert deterrence.

February’s oil spill came just weeks after the assassination near Tehran of a key Iranian nuclear scientist.

And a missile strike on the Hyperion Ray, an Israeli-owned commercial vehicle carrier near the UAE port of Fujairah, came a day after Iran accused Israeli saboteurs of setting off a massive explosion at its Natanz nuclear facility on April 12.

Such behaviour did not begin with the current “shadow war,” and sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between the Iranian-Israeli maritime conflict and other incidents.

“There were retaliatory strikes for other geopolitical events. Remember they seized the Stena Impero because Gibraltar took the Grace One,” said Michelle Wiese Bockmann of Lloyd’s List, referring to the tit-for-tat seizure of Iranian and British oil tankers in 2019.

“In 2019 a South Korean vessel was taken as leverage for some money that was frozen in a bank account. I guess they see it as leverage.”

About 20 per cent of the world’s oil passes through the strait of Hormuz daily, and hitting shipping is a good way to force the world to take your interests seriously.

“One VLCC is worth about $80 million. Let’s say the price of crude is $75 a barrel and there’s two million barrels in there. You’re talking, huge, huge money, billions of dollars of trade, and you’re going to get everyone’s attention that way,” said Ms Bockmann.

Previous attacks, whether by limpet mines, drones or IEDs apparently planted in cargo, seemed designed to make a dramatic point without actually killing anyone.

But the kamikaze drone that hit the Israel-linked merchant vessel Mercer Street flew straight into the living quarters.

The two fatalities drew Britain and Romania, both Nato powers, into the stand-off.

Most analysts think the deaths were unintentional. But it also displayed incredible recklessness.

The crew also included citizens of China and Russia – Iran’s most important allies. Had one of them been killed, it could have caused Tehran even more serious problems.