Supply ChainTransportationDefense

"A Wall of Fire": Eyewitness View of an Attack in the Strait of Hormuz | Week 10 Recap

What’s Going on With Shipping? (Sal Mercogliano)
What’s Going on With Shipping? (Sal Mercogliano)•May 10, 2026

Why It Matters

The attack illustrates how geopolitical flashpoints can instantly endanger commercial vessels, disrupting supply chains and inflating shipping costs worldwide.

Key Takeaways

  • •Merchant mariners face missile attacks while transiting Strait of Hormuz.
  • •CMA CGM San Antonio suffered engine‑room hit, injuring multiple crew.
  • •AIS blackouts hide vessel movements, complicating maritime security monitoring.
  • •Iran’s demands for US blockade lift remain unmet, heightening tensions.
  • •Dark‑fleet operations expose crews to legal and safety risks.

Summary

The latest episode of "What’s Going On with Shipping" recaps week 10 of the escalating Strait of Hormuz crisis, zeroing in on the harrowing experience of the crew aboard the CMA CGM San Antonio. The Malta‑flagged container ship was struck by an unknown projectile while exiting the southern corridor, breaching its engine‑room bulkhead, igniting a fire, and leaving four crew members injured, one seriously. Data from the Joint Maritime Information Center shows traffic through the strait has plummeted, with AIS‑enabled vessels dropping from six on May 3 to virtually none by May 8. Meanwhile, satellite and Winward dashboards reveal a surge of “dark” vessels and IRGC high‑speed craft swarming the waterway, underscoring the difficulty of tracking ships in a contested environment. The episode features a translated Ukrainian crew video that captures the explosion’s concussive force, the charred control panels, and the crew’s frantic response. It also references related incidents—a Venezuelan‑sanctioned tanker pursued by the U.S. Coast Guard and the early‑war strike on the tanker Skylight—highlighting the broader peril faced by merchant mariners caught in geopolitical crossfires. These developments signal rising operational risk for global trade routes, likely driving higher insurance premiums, rerouting costs, and pressure on policymakers to address the security vacuum. The inability to secure Iran’s demand to lift the U.S. blockade further entrenches uncertainty for shippers and downstream industries.

Original Description

This video recaps the events of Week 10 in the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. blockade of Iran. It focuses on a raw and harrowing firsthand look at the aftermath of a drone strike on the CMA CGM San Antonio in the Strait of Hormuz. A crew member walks through the devastated Engine Control Room and workshop, showing twisted metal, charred furniture, and heavy steel doors that were completely blown off their hinges by the explosive blast wave. The footage captures the intense reality of the attack, with the narrator pointing out where he and other crew members were sitting when the "wall of fire" swept through the room, miraculously surviving with only minor injuries like singed hair despite the significant physical destruction to the vessel's interior.
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00:00 Introduction
02:28 Joint Maritime Information Center Advisory for 10 May
03:54 WindwardAI Dashboard on the Iran War
06:37 Merchant Mariner experiences
10:40 Video from the damaged MV CMA CGM San Antonio
20:32 Week 10 Recap
31:37 Conclusion
Marine Traffic
www.marinetraffic.com
JMIC Advisory
WindwardAI Strait of Hormuz Dashboard
The sailors who keep ‘ghost’ tankers moving
‘Everything went black. Then fire poured down’: one man’s terror onboard a ship hit in the Iran war
Trapped in Hormuz: Indian Sailors Describe Nights of Missiles, Fear, and Hunger
gCaptain
www.gcaptain.com

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