LNG vessel strike a dangerous escalation

The attack on Qatari LNG ship Al Rekayyat early on Tuesday (July 7, 2026) is of significance to India as well as world shipping.  

In 2025, some 16% of Qatari LNG landed in India. As per marinetraffic.com, Al Rekayyat that had loaded in Ras Laffan is supposed to call on Dahej in Gujarat on July 12.  

LNG ships owing allegiance to Qatar and UAE have been transiting along the Oman route for several weeks now but with their transponders switched off, a phenomenon known in the shipping industry as dark transits. Switching off the equipment helps to evade detection by Iran and stave off attacks.

Al Rekayyat’s transponders have apparently been switched off for several weeks. The last known position has been recorded near the Indian coast but some 20 days ago.  

Before the signing of the U.S-Iran MoU, a majority of the ships sought to engage with Iran and evacuated their ships stranded in the Persian Gulf along the Iranian coast. More recently, facilitated by the U.S., some ships had been taking the Oman route, too.  

Lloyd’s List data shows that ship transits had doubled in the week of June 22 to 28 to some 260 across the Strait of Hormuz over the previous week with nearly half of it coming through the non-Iranian route. But, between June 29 to July 2, transits reduced to 211. Only two LNG carriers crossed that week compared to 13 before, owing to persistent public warnings by Iran against taking the Oman route. Iran has said that the route is “unauthorised” and “unsafe”, and has sought to exercise its leverage of the strait.

Reuters has reported that a drone hit the ship on the port side (left side) and had led to engine room damage. Though all the crew have been evacuated and reported safe, crew members have said the ship is at a risk of explosion, as per Reuters.  

Natural gas is a high-risk cargo and LNG ships can trigger catastrophic accidents. Accidents involving LNG ships in choke points such as the Suez Canal, Malacca-Singapore strait or the Strait of Hormuz are some of the worst-case risk scenarios in global shipping. Yet, the safety record of LNG ships has been exceptional over several decades. Though a few leaks have been reported, none has led to any accident. The redundant safety systems onboard and highly trained seafarers have been keen to maintaining this record.  

But, in a turn, this year, two LNG ships have faced attacks in conflicts. The Russia-flagged LNG carrier, Arctic Metagaz, was attacked apparently by Ukrainian drones early March in the Mediterranean. Despite a blazing fire, the vessel did not sink and was towed to safety by Libyan authorities a few weeks later.