An obvious Iranian assault on a totally loaded Kuwaiti crude oil tanker at Dubai Port sparked a fireplace that was later extinguished, authorities mentioned.
Kuwait Petroleum Company (KPC) mentioned 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 harm to the vessel and a fireplace on board.
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KPC warned of a attainable oil spill in surrounding waters, Kuwaiti state information company KUNA reported.
Authorities in Dubai mentioned 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 response to 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, mentioned Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi, reporting from Dubai.
“These assaults appear to be getting nearer, they’re getting louder, and one in every of them hit that oil tanker off the coast of the waters of Dubai,” he mentioned.
“Individuals actually appear on excessive alert right here once more … You may hear these army jets overhead patrolling the skies,” Basravi added.
Work is now beneath solution to assess harm to the tanker, mentioned KPC, which, in response to Lloyd’s Listing Intelligence information, is the dad or mum firm of Al Salmi’s registered proprietor and industrial operator.
The tanker was loaded with two million barrels of oil from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, in response to information from Lloyd’s and TankerTrackers. Lloyd’s listed the vacation spot as Qingdao, China.
The strike on the Al Salmi is the newest 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 conflict on Iran started on February 28.
Earlier on Monday, a Greek-owned container ship positioned 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 mentioned.
In the meantime, the operator of a Thai cargo ship struck by a projectile close to the Strait of Hormuz mentioned a search crew 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, mentioned 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 mentioned.
“And Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, all introduced they’ve been attacked in a single day and have intercepted missiles and drones.”
On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia mentioned 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 mentioned in an announcement on X, citing a ministry spokesperson. It added that seven ballistic missiles focusing on the Riyadh area and one aimed on the Japanese 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 harm to a US plane at Prince Sultan Air Base within the kingdom.
“Our operations are aimed toward enemy aggressors who don’t have any respect for Arabs or Iranians, nor can present any safety … Excessive time to eject US forces.”
