Two Oil Tankers attacked in Gulf of Oman near Iranian Coast - False Flag?

[duyunne]

Frontline oil tanker struck by torpedo off UAE coast: Tradewinds

OSLO (Reuters) - An oil tanker owned by Norway’s Frontline has been struck by a torpedo off the coast of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, shipping newspaper Tradewinds reported on Thursday, citing unnamed industry sources.

Frontline was not immediately available for comment.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which is part of the Royal Navy, had said on Thursday it was aware of an incident in the Gulf of Oman, near the Iranian coast.


Re:

Frontline oil tanker struck by torpedo off UAE coast - Tradewinds

An oil tanker owned by Norway's Frontline has been struck by a torpedo off the coast of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, shipping newspaper Tradewinds reported on Thursday, citing unnamed industry sources.

www.reuters.com

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Explosions on two oil tankers near Iran send oil prices 3% higher



Key Points

• Attacks on tanker ships near the world’s busiest sea lane for oil shipments send oil prices sharply higher, partially reversing a deep slump in crude futures.
• Tankers the Front Altair and the Kokuka Courageous have sustained significant fire damage in the Gulf of Oman, and their crews have been evacuated.
• The strikes come against a backdrop of heightened tension between the U.S. and Iran and follow last month’s attacks on four tanker ships in the Middle East.

Re:

Explosions on two oil tankers near Iran send oil prices 2% higher

Attacks near the world's busiest sea lane for oil shipments come amid escalating tensions between Iran and the United States and its allies in the Gulf.

www.cnbc.com

 

[duyunne]

Iran Navy rescues sailors following 'tanker attack'

Four commercial vessels of various nationalities were allegedly targeted by acts of sabotage off the coast of the UAE on Sunday.

The assault, which has yet to be claimed by a group, was condemned across the region.

Washington suspects Iran but Tehran has denied any involvement.



re:

Iran rescues sailors after 'tanker attack' off Fujairah coast

An incident took place off the coast of Fujairah.

www.alaraby.co.uk

 

[munaychasumaq]

More oil into the see!! and a good excuse for USA to blame Iran.

 

[Ocean]

Photos and video show flames, ash, and charring on oil tanker after suspected torpedo attack in Gulf of Oman


An oil tanker on fire in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday after a suspected torpedo attack. AP Photo/ISNA

• New photos and video show the aftermath of a suspected torpedo attack on an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman.
• The oil tanker was evacuated on Thursday after catching fire. The company that chartered the ship said it believed it was hit by a torpedo.
• The ship is one of two that were damaged in suspected attacks. Both have been evacuated.
• The photos show the ship on fire and covered in ash, with smoke billowing into the sky.

Photos and video of the aftermath of a suspected torpedo attack show flames, ash, and charring on an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman.

The imagery shows the Front Altair, a tanker owned by the Norwegian company Frontline.

It is not clear exactly what left the tanker so badly damaged. It had been chartered by Taiwan's state oil-refining company, CPC, which said the ship was "suspected of being hit by a torpedo."

Press TV, a broadcaster funded by the government of Iran, posted aerial footage of the fire on Twitter on Thursday afternoon.

Aerial footage shows one of the oil tankers targeted in the Sea of Oman

https://twitter.com/PressTV/status/1139139212308099079
Still images, credited to Iran's ISNA news agency and distributed by The Associated Press, show the now abandoned ship in flames. Its crew was evacuated after the incident began.

About half of its starboard side can be seen with fire damage. Its bridge, usually white, was blackened on one side. According to Reuters, the ship was carrying 75,000 metric tons of petrochemicals.


Another view of the Front Altair oil tanker on fire on June 13, 2019. AP Photo/ISNA)

The ship is one of two that were damaged in suspected attacks in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday.

 

[Ca.]

U.S. Sees State Actor Behind Oil Tanker Attacks in Gulf Region
Updated on June 13, 2019, 6:29 PM GMT+2 By Verity Ratcliffe, Anthony Dipaola, and Bruce Stanley
5-6 minute Read / Video
An attack on two oil tankers near the entrance to the Persian Gulf was likely done by a state actor, according to a U.S. official, heightening tensions over a potential military confrontation between the U.S. and Iran. Oil prices surged.

The incidents on Thursday, including an assault on a Japanese-operated vessel, were the second in a month to hit ships near the Strait of Hormuz chokepoint, through which about 40% of the world’s seaborne oil travels. They come as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a rare ally of both Donald Trump and Iranian leaders, visits Tehran in an effort to ease tensions.

A U.S. official said the government is confident it knows which country is responsible but declined to give more details. U.S. and Saudi officials have suggested they think Iran was behind a previous attack last month on ships in the region.

“Even in the absence of ironclad evidence, the U.S. and its allies will point the finger at Iran,” said Fawaz A. Gerges, professor of Middle Eastern politics at the London School of Economics. “These incidents are a bad omen because they point to a calculated escalation that tells us both sides are hunkering down.”

The Trump administration said it was evaluating reports of an attack on ships in the Gulf of Oman and will “continue to assess the situation,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in an email.

The prospects of a conflict have spiked since the Trump administration tightened its sanctions on Iranian oil exports in early May. Trump last year abandoned the 2015 deal that was meant to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb and reimposed sanctions in a bid to force the Islamic Republic to rein in its military program and proxy militias.

Facing economic catastrophe, Iran has threatened to retreat from the accord itself unless European parties throw it an lifeline. Its supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, told Abe on Thursday that his country would not repeat the “bitter experience” of talks with the U.S.

High-Stakes Diplomacy

The Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet said it received two separate distress signals at 6:12 a.m. and about 7:00 a.m. local time. “U.S. Navy ships are in the area and are rendering assistance,” Commander Josh Frey, a spokesman, said. He couldn’t confirm reports that one of the vessels was struck by a torpedo. Iran said it has rescued 44 sailors.

The manager of one tanker, the Norwegian-owned Front Altair, said it was sailing in international waters when it was damaged by an explosion, and that the incident is being treated as a “hostile attack.” The ship had loaded a cargo of naphtha in Abu Dhabi and was bound for Taiwan, a company official said.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1139238464631857152

A distress call over VHF radio from the Front Altair said the ship was “under attack and on fire," said Donald MacLeod, a navigation officer on a vessel about 45 miles away on the Oman Sea. "They had to abandon ship."

Kokuka Sangyo, the Japanese operator of the other ship, said it was attacked twice, three hours apart, forcing the crew to evacuate. The tanker was carrying 25,000 tons of methanol from Saudi Arabia to Asia. Japanese public broadcaster NHK, citing Kokuka Sangyo’s chief executive officer, said the ship was hit by a shell.

Brent oil crude soared as much as 4.5% and was trading at $61.77 a barrel at 3:32 p.m. in London. Stocks in Saudi Arabia and Dubai were down.

Read: Yemeni Missile Attack on Saudi Airport Wounds 26 in Escalation

The incidents come a day after Iran-backed rebels in Yemen fired a missile at a Saudi airport, wounding 26 people. The projectile crashed into the arrivals hall, damaging ceilings and windows and causing a fire, though the airport was able to keep functioning with only two flights canceled. Houthi rebels last month hit oil infrastructure hundreds of kilometers inside Saudi Arabia, forcing it to temporarily close an oil pipeline.

Iran distanced itself from any attack.

“Iran is concerned by the suspicious events around commercial tankers related to Japan,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi, was quoted as saying on Fars news agency. “We see this as going against efforts from within the region and beyond to reduce tensions.”

Oil tankers last became a target in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea during the so-called "Tanker War" in the 1980s -- a sideshow of the Iran-Iraq conflict. Between 1981 and 1988, a total of 451 ships suffered some sort of attack in the region from Iraqi or Iranian forces, according to a report from the U.S. Naval Institute.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1139236468365434880

https://twitter.com/x/status/1139242923378249728

 

[Thebull]

Yes when will the Israeli and American fingers start pointing at Iran. Probably on tonight's news. I wonder if that's why I've been feeling out of sorts today! There going to doing something stupid again.

 

[Beau]

Yes when will the Israeli and American fingers start pointing at Iran.

They already are, Pompeo just said Iran was behind it. Perhaps this was meant to foul up Iran/Japan talks, as Shinzo Abe just completed his state visit to Tehran.

 

[Mark7]

They already are, Pompeo just said Iran was behind it. Perhaps this was meant to foul up Iran/Japan talks, as Shinzo Abe just completed his state visit to Tehran.

So are we pointing fingers at Iran for attacking their own resources and infrastructure? Seems like a dangerous game of pot-kettle-black.

 

[Thebull]

Such F**kwits but here we go again!

 

[Beau]

So are we pointing fingers at Iran for attacking their own resources and infrastructure? Seems like a dangerous game of pot-kettle-black.

If you mean Pompeo aka the Deep State, obviously the logic is that Iran must be demonized in the eyes of the Western populace. But to be clear, the ships that were attacked were not Iranian ships.

 

[Joe]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1139242923378249728

Perfect example of the completely scurrilous nature of the US media, running that headline as if it had ANY validity whatsoever.

 

[Niall]

So far, two sources claim/suggest the tankers were hit with torpedoes:

Another false-flag: Two more oil tankers attacked in Gulf of Oman, possibly with torpedoes - UPDATES

The tensions in the Middle East are back up to boiling point after a second incident involving tankers along the world's most important oil choke-point. So, here's a round-up of all the relevant news that broke this day. What Happened? Two oil...

www.sott.net

This scenario was quasi-predicted just last month...

Persian Gulf tanker attacks: Israel has silent underwater nuclear submarines

The 2,400 ton Dolphin 2 model is based on the state-of-the-art Type 212 submarine, which features Air-Independent Propulsion technology and swim faster at twenty-five knots. While diesel submarines rely on noisy air-consuming diesel generators...

www.sott.net

The 2,400 ton Dolphin 2 model is based on the state-of-the-art Type 212 submarine, which features Air-Independent Propulsion technology and swim faster at twenty-five knots. While diesel submarines rely on noisy air-consuming diesel generators which require the submarine to regularly surface or snorkel, AIP-powered submarines can swim underwater very quietly at low speeds for weeks at a time.

This not only means they are stealthier sea-control platforms, but makes them more viable for lengthy nuclear deterrence patrols. Currently, the Chinese AIP-powered Type 32 Qing-class is the only AIP-powered submarine in service armed with ballistic missiles.

However, as fellow TNI writer Robert Farley points out, there are geographic obstacles that diminish the practicality of Israel's sea-based nuclear deterrence. For now, there is only one intended target: Iran, a country which lies hundreds of miles away from Israel. While Tehran lies barely within the supposed 930-mile range of an Israeli submarine deployed from their base in Haifa into the Mediterranean Sea, the missiles would have to spend over an hour overflying Syria and Iraq, posing navigational and survivability challenges.

A closer avenue for attack would lie in the Persian Gulf, but this would involve transiting the submarines through the Suez Canal (controlled by Egypt), around Africa (impractically far for the Dolphin-class), or stationing some at the naval base at Eilat, which faces the Gulf of Aqaba on the southern tip of Israel and is surrounded by Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. In short, deploying Israeli submarines to Iran's southern flank would require some degree of cooperation and logistical support from other Middle Eastern states that might not be forthcoming in a crisis scenario.

Farley is probably correct in arguing that the Israel's nuclear-tipped SLCMs are less practical than Tel Aviv's other nuclear-delivery platforms. For that matter, Israel doesn't currently face any adversaries with nuclear capabilities to deter against. However, like the idea of second-strike capability in general, the threat of sea-launched nukes may be more intended political weapon than one strictly intended for its military effectiveness.

 

[Ca.]

I have to question the supposed Iranian-backed Houthi cruise missile attack on Abha Airport in Saudi Arabia.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1139216337513984001

 

[Ennio]

Interesting timing. Netanyahoo recently invited the national security advisors of Russia and the US to Jerusalem to discuss Syria and Iran this month - as those countries are considered "threats to security". No doubt these recent tanker attacks will be used as an argument and justification for "getting tough" with Iran - and to feel out what Russia's response may be - should Israel and the US escalate their belligerent behavior towards Iran.

Russia, US, Israel to hold joint security meeting in Jerusalem - Syria and Iran on the table

This month of June, the National Security Advisors of Russia, the US, and Israel, Nikolay Patrushev, John Bolton and Meir Ben-Shabbat, respectively, are expected to meet in Jerusalem to talk about Iran and Syria and what Israel considers the...

www.sott.net

 

[Beau]

The owner of the Japanese vessel that was hit is definitely not following Deep State talking points re - the attack:

Japanese tanker owner claims crew saw ‘flying objects’ before attack, denies ship struck mine

The Japanese company that owns the ‘Kokuka Courageous’ tanker has said its crew spotted “flying objects” before the attack in the Gulf of Oman, contradicting US claims that the vessel was damaged by a naval mine.

www.rt.com

The Iranians aren't afraid to openly state who is likely behind the attack:

Iranian Official Points to US, Mossad as Main Destabilisers in Persian, Oman Gulfs

TEHRAN (Sputnik) - US security services and Israeli intelligence agency Mossad may be behind the recent destabilization in the Persian and Oman gulfs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, a senior foreign policy adviser to the Iranian parliament...

sputniknews.com