Prima

An oil tanker whose flag state and operator have not been publicly confirmed, the Prima became one of the first commercial vessels struck after Iran declared its transit ban. The attack demonstrated that the IRGC was willing to target individual ships by name rather than firing indiscriminately, giving the blockade a precision that made insurance withdrawal inevitable.

The Prima was struck by an IRGC drone in the Strait of Hormuz on 7 March 2026 after ignoring repeated naval warnings about the transit ban. The IRGC identified the vessel by name and claimed responsibility publicly, establishing the pattern of named targeting that would define the Hormuz blockade. A rescue tugboat sent to assist nearby tanker Safeen Prestige was then hit by two missiles, killing eight crew.

The IMO's cumulative tally reached 10 vessels attacked, 7 seafarers killed and 20,000 stranded. The Prima's strike was the moment the Hormuz blockade shifted from threat to operational reality, and Iran's foreign ministry followed with a formal warning that all tankers must be "very careful".