An obvious Iranian assault on a totally loaded Kuwaiti crude oil tanker at Dubai Port sparked a fireplace that was later extinguished, authorities stated.
Kuwait Petroleum Company (KPC) stated early on Tuesday that the Al Salmi tanker was struck in an Iranian assault whereas anchored on the port within the United Arab Emirates, inflicting injury to the vessel and a fireplace on board.
Really helpful Tales
listing of 4 objectsfinish of listing
KPC warned of a potential oil spill in surrounding waters, Kuwaiti state information company KUNA reported.
Authorities in Dubai stated there was a drone assault on the Kuwaiti oil tanker in a single day, and response groups had contained the incident.
They added that no oil leakage or accidents had been reported, in keeping with the Dubai Media Workplace.
A number of loud explosions had been heard in Dubai, beginning at round 6 or 7pm native time on Monday till about 1 or 2am on Tuesday, stated Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi, reporting from Dubai.
“These assaults appear to be getting nearer, they’re getting louder, and considered one of them hit that oil tanker off the coast of the waters of Dubai,” he stated.
“Folks definitely appear on excessive alert right here once more … You possibly can hear these army jets overhead patrolling the skies,” Basravi added.
Work is now underneath technique to assess injury to the tanker, stated KPC, which, in keeping with Lloyd’s Listing Intelligence information, is the mother or father firm of Al Salmi’s registered proprietor and business operator.
The tanker was loaded with two million barrels of oil from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, in keeping with information from Lloyd’s and TankerTrackers. Lloyd’s listed the vacation spot as Qingdao, China.
The strike on the Al Salmi is the most recent in a string of assaults on service provider vessels by missiles or explosive air and sea drones within the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz since the USA and Israel’s battle on Iran started on February 28.
Earlier on Monday, a Greek-owned container ship situated off the coast of Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura reported two separate incidents the place projectiles hit water close to the vessel, maritime safety specialists stated.
In the meantime, the operator of a Thai cargo ship struck by a projectile close to the Strait of Hormuz stated a search group was in a position to board the vessel however didn’t find its three lacking crew members.
The Mayuree Naree was disabled after being hit simply north of Oman earlier this month.
Different regional assaults
Al Jazeera’s Malik Traina, reporting from Kuwait Metropolis on Tuesday, stated there have been “quite a few assaults” throughout the Gulf within the final a number of of hours, together with in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain.
“Within the UAE, 4 individuals suffered minor accidents in Dubai’s Al Badaa space,” he stated.
“And Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, all introduced they’ve been attacked in a single day and have intercepted missiles and drones.”
On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia stated its air defences intercepted and destroyed 10 drones and eight ballistic missiles throughout a brand new wave of assaults.
“Ten drones had been intercepted and destroyed over the previous few hours,” the Saudi Protection Ministry stated in a press release on X, citing a ministry spokesperson. It added that seven ballistic missiles concentrating on the Riyadh area and one aimed on the Jap Province had been additionally intercepted and destroyed.
Iran’s international minister on Tuesday insisted that Tehran’s assaults on the Gulf Arab states solely goal US forces, even after assaults have hit civilian targets all through the area.
“Iran respects the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and considers it a brotherly nation,” Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X, sharing a photograph purportedly displaying injury to a US plane at Prince Sultan Air Base within the kingdom.
“Our operations are geared toward enemy aggressors who haven’t any respect for Arabs or Iranians, nor can present any safety … Excessive time to eject US forces.”
