A fire aboard a fully loaded Kuwaiti oil tanker that was hit in an Iranian attack on Monday in the anchorage area of Dubai Port has been extinguished, authorities said.
The apparent attack on the Al Salmi oil tanker is just the latest in a series of strikes on merchant ships by explosive aerial and maritime missiles or drones in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz since the US and Israel launched military operations against Iran on February 28.
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) said on Tuesday morning that the Al Salmi was hit in an Iranian attack while anchored in the port of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, causing damage to the vessel and a fire on board. The company warned of a possible oil spill into surrounding waters, according to Kuwaiti state news agency KUNA.
Dubai authorities said maritime firefighting teams were able to extinguish the flames caused by the drone strike and continued to assess the situation, adding that no casualties had been reported and that all 24 crew members were safe.
The price of oil rose after the attack
Brent crude futures rose more than 2 percent to $115.17 a barrel in the early hours of the Asian session on news of the attack on the Dubai oil tanker, but fell slightly after the Wall Street Journal reported that President Donald Trump is willing to end the war even if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.
Brent crude is on course for a 59% jump in March, its biggest monthly gain ever, due to the war in the Middle East.
Work is underway to assess the damage to the tanker, said KPC, which according to Lloyd's List Intelligence is the parent company of Al Salmi's registered owner and commercial operator.
The tanker was headed for China
The tanker was carrying 2 million barrels of crude from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, according to data from Lloyd's and TankerTrackers. Lloyd's listed the destination as Qingdao, China.
Iranian officials could not immediately be reached by Reuters for comment.
On Monday morning, a Greek-owned container ship off the coast of Ras Tanura in Saudi Arabia reported two separate incidents in which projectiles hit the water near the ship, maritime security experts said.
A representative of the Liberian-flagged Express Rome reported that two unknown projectiles fell into the water near the container ship, about 22 nautical miles (40.7 km) northeast of Ras Tanura. The incidents happened within an hour of each other and the crew are safe, British maritime risk management group Vanguard said.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps previously claimed to have attacked the Express Rome ship on March 11, Vanguard said.
The operator of the Express Rome vessel had no immediate comment. No group has claimed responsibility for the tanker attack or the projectiles.
