In statements issued on 15 September and 8 October, Panama’s maritime authority (AMP) reported attacks on two Panamanian-flagged ships: the tanker El Gaia in the Strait of Hormuz, then the On Peace in international waters. The International Maritime Organization (IMO), for its part, had verified 80 attacks on merchant shipping in and around the strait between 28 February and mid-September.
Panama operates the world’s second-largest ship register by carrying capacity, according to UNCTAD: 350 million deadweight tonnes, behind Liberia’s 447 million and ahead of the Marshall Islands’ 318 million.
IMO: Conflicts Must Not Be a Pretext for Attacks
Addressing the Sub-Committee on Carriage of Cargoes and Containers (CCC 12), meeting in London from 14 to 18 September, IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez called on Member States to refrain from actions that endanger merchant ships and their crews, according to a statement published on 16 September. “Do not use these conflicts to attack innocent seafarers,” he told delegates.
The attacks verified by IMO around Hormuz since the Middle East conflict began on 28 February had killed at least 22 seafarers and injured many more. Dominguez stressed that the attacks cannot be pinned on a single actor: in Hormuz, as in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, more than one country has attacked merchant vessels.
Tackling the root causes of these conflicts lies beyond IMO’s remit, he noted, urging delegates to take the issue up with their governments and the relevant United Nations bodies. On 14 September, opening the session, he had told shipowners, operators and flag States that they must carry out realistic and thorough risk assessments before sending vessels into these waters.
Two Panamanian-Flagged Ships Hit
The first case involved the tanker El Gaia. According to an AMP statement of 15 September, the vessel was struck in the engine room area while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, north of Oman’s Musandam Peninsula, and the impact started a fire on board. Twenty-three of its 25 crew members were evacuated; two remained missing.
On 5 October at 19:30 UTC, the On Peace (IMO 9893204) was hit by a projectile of unknown origin in international waters while sailing from Sitrah, in Bahrain, to Fujairah, in the United Arab Emirates. Twelve seafarers were injured, ten of whom were evacuated for treatment ashore, the AMP said on 8 October. All crew members were accounted for and no marine pollution was recorded. The ship was being towed to Shinas, Oman, for a technical assessment of the damage.
Precautions Urged for Panamanian Ships
After both incidents, the AMP reminded the international fleet of two Merchant Marine Notices, MMN-04/2025 and MMN-05/2026. The latter, issued in March 2026, covers Panamanian ships operating in or transiting areas near Iran, Israel, the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz. Masters, owners and operators are urged to tighten security protocols on board, step up surveillance, raise protection levels under the Ship Security Plan, review their routes carefully and, wherever possible, avoid high-risk areas.
Sanctioned Ships Struck Off the Register
Panama is also acting on sanctions. On 9 October, the AMP said that three Panamanian-flagged ships named the previous day on a list from the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Bitu (IMO 9531765), the Starway (IMO 9273246) and the Mackerel (IMO 9234628), had been restricted in its system, and that their ex officio deregistration had begun under Executive Decree No. 512 of 28 October 2024.
The same statement addressed the list published by the United Kingdom on 8 October against Russia’s “shadow fleet”: none of the ships named was on the Panamanian register at that date, the authority said, six of them having been removed between 29 January and 6 August 2026.
See also: Panama Links ISO Recertification to Broader Ship Registry Performance Push
Sources: International Maritime Organization (statement of 16 September 2026; opening remarks to CCC 12, 14 September 2026); Panama Maritime Authority (statements of 6 March, 15 September, 8 October and 9 October 2026); UNCTAD (data updated 18 June 2026).
