Weather 
The Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Company said Tuesday that all crew members from its container ship MSC Sariska V were safe and unharmed after the vessel was struck by projectiles off Iraq’s Persian Gulf coast the previous day. The company refuted claims of links to Israel or the U.S.
Video circulating Monday on social media showed damage to the MSC Sariska V’s starboard side after pro-Iran social media accounts and Iraqi media said the ship suffered an explosion off the coast of Umm Qasr, Iraq.
The British Navy’s Maritime Trade Operations Centre (UKMTO) said a vessel was hit by an unknown projectile in the same area, but it didn’t identify the ship.
MSC said the ship was struck by two projectiles: The first came as it was leaving the port, and the second “impacted the crew area soon afterwards.”
“All crew members are safe, unharmed and acted with exceptional professionalism throughout the incident to secure the vessel, and its cargo,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
MSC also denied allegations that the company is affiliated with Israel or the U.S., saying it is a “neutral commercial carrier” wholly owned by the children of founder Captain Gianluigi Aponte, all Italian nationals with no other citizenship, and that it is both “headquartered and domiciled in Switzerland.”
Iran’s IRGC has repeatedly threatened Israeli and American vessels in the Persian Gulf and those attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the war in February, but has also attacked civilian vessels with no connections to either country.
MSC is one of the largest shipping liners in the world, with a market share of 21.1% as of late 2025, and the company boasts 675 offices in 155 countries. It promotes weekly services to Haifa and Ashdod ports in Israel.
