The tanker was attacked off the UAE’s Al Jeer Port on May 4, according to the report, which cited people familiar with the incident. The vessel’s deck caught fire during the attack and bore markings reading “CHINA OWNER & CREW,” Caixin said.

No casualties or details regarding the extent of the damage were immediately disclosed.A person familiar with the shipowner told Caixin the incident represented the first known attack involving a Chinese oil tanker in the region, describing the event as “psychologically very hard to accept.”The strike comes amid mounting security risks around the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic maritime chokepoint through which a significant share of global oil and fuel shipments passes daily.

Shipping activity across the Gulf region has faced heightened disruption since the outbreak of hostilities involving Iran, the United States and Israel earlier this year. Regional tensions have raised concerns among energy traders, insurers and shipping operators over vessel safety and supply-chain stability.

The reported attack follows a series of incidents affecting commercial shipping near Hormuz, including claims and denials involving vessels linked to South Korea and other Asian economies heavily dependent on Gulf energy supplies.China, the world’s largest crude oil importer, relies heavily on Middle Eastern energy exports transported through the Strait of Hormuz.

Beijing has repeatedly called for stability in the Gulf and urged all parties to avoid actions that could threaten international trade routes.Neither Chinese authorities nor UAE officials immediately issued public statements regarding the reported attack.

Among the ships that passed through the waterway were five vessels that had last loaded cargoes from Iran, including oil products and metals, while three liquefied petroleum gas carriers were bound for destinations including China and India.A Panama-flagged tanker carrying LPG from the United Arab Emirates was headed to Indonesia, while two other tankers loaded with refined products from Bahrain were en route to Mozambique and Thailand, respectively, according to the data.

Shipping activity also included a Liberian-flagged tanker transporting around 500,000 barrels of UAE naphtha to Ulsan in South Korea, and a very large crude carrier hauling roughly 2 million barrels of Saudi oil toward Taiwan. Another vessel carrying about 780,000 barrels of Das crude from the UAE was bound for Sri Lanka.

Additional cargoes moving through the strait included fertiliser shipments from Qatar to the UAE and petroleum coke exports from Saudi Arabia to Italy.

The uptick in vessel movements comes after weeks of disruption linked to heightened geopolitical tensions in the Gulf, which had sharply curtailed tanker traffic through one of the world’s most vital energy transit routes.