Hormuz ship attack results in death as Trump says strait is ‘open’

A cargo ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz has come under attack, leaving one crew member dead, while President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the waterway is “open and operating.”

A projectile struck the vessel as it exited Hormuz damaging its engine room, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said Tuesday. Oman’s Coast Guard is assisting the rest of the crew. No environmental damage has been reported, according to the UKMTO report.

The ship was sailing southbound less than one nautical mile from the coast of Oman when it came under attack, according to the Joint Maritime Information Center. The U.S. military assists vessels that take the southern route, but Iran has still managed to attack ships sailing that corridor.

“The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated,” Trump said in a Truth Social post hours after the attack. U.S. Central Command referred CNBC to the White House when asked to confirm whether all mines have been cleared in the strait.

At least 17 mariners have been killed in 65 attacks on commercial vessels since the U.S.-Iran war began on Feb. 28, according to the International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency.

Observed ship traffic through Hormuz has remained low so far this week with 10 crossings on Monday and two transits on Sunday, according to data provided by the trade intelligence firm Kpler.

The five-day average for ship transits is about 10, the lowest level since May 11, according to a CNBC analysis of Kpler’s data. About 130 vessels crossed Hormuz daily before the war.

Trump said the U.S. is not holding any talks with Iran. The memorandum of understanding that Washington and Tehran signed on June 17 to open Hormuz expired on Monday without a final deal.

Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said Tuesday that Hormuz will remain closed until the U.S. meets it commitments under the MOU, according to the state news agency Tasnim.

The U.S. and Iran have been contesting control of Hormuz since the MOU collapsed due to conflicting interpretations of the agreement.

Iran has repeatedly attacked ships sailing the U.S.-protected southern route in an effort to shut down the corridor. Tehran demands that vessels take a northern route through its territorial waters instead.

Tanker traffic is still constrained though monthly exports through Hormuz have increased under U.S. military protection, according to data from maritime intelligence firm Windward.

Crude oil exports through Hormuz rose to about 5 million barrels per day in July compared with about 4 million bpd in June and 1.6 million bpd in May, said Michelle Wiese Bockmann, maritime intelligence analyst at Windward. About 20 million bpd of crude and products, or a fifth of the world’s oil consumption, was exported through the strait before the war.

“Transits have scaled up very quickly against a backdrop of extreme risk,” Bockmann said.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said last week that…