Iranian Oil Tanker struck by missiles off Jeddah

[DanilKa + 443]

Zerohedge reported Iranian oil tanker was hit by two missiles in Red Sea 60 nm off Jeddah. Israel is blamed. Fire and leak seems contained by now.

 

https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/iranian-oil-tanker-struck-2-missiles-near-saudi-port

Many questions remained unanswered early Friday after an attack on an Iranian oil tanker in the Red Sea sent oil prices higher, in the latest attack on energy-industry infrastructure in an increasingly volatile part of the world. According to the New York Times, a fire erupted on an Iranian oil tanker about 60 miles from the Port of Jeddah on Friday after the tanker's two major tanks were struck by missiles, causing an oil spill.

No crew members were hurt and the ship is reportedly in stable condition, according to Iranian state news media. The National Iranian Oil Company, which owns the tanker, said the ship was struck at 5 am local time and 5:20 am local time. Iranian officials said Friday that the incident was "an act of terrorism", but they insisted that the ship had suffered minimal damage and that only a small amount of oil had spilled into the ocean. The Iranians also denied that the ship had caught fire, despite photos purportedly depicting the blaze.

Iranian media said "technical experts" are still investigating the cause of the explosion, though Iranian state media initially blamed Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom, meanwhile, denied any responsibility for the attack. However, according to conflicting reports, the National Iranian Oil Company denied that Saudi Arabia, Iran's archrival in the region, was behind the attack, and instead pointed the finger toward Israel.

Another inconsistency emerged when Iran said a tanker known as the Sabiti had been hit. But the ship-tracking website Marine Traffic shows the vessel hasn't transmitted any location data since mid-August.

State media published photos of the Sabiti after the attack, but the ship didn't appear to be damaged.

f course, this isn't the first attack on an oil tanker in the region this year. Iran has been blamed for torpedoing oil tankers belonging to Japanese and Panamanian shipping companies in an incident that also hasn't been fully explained. Iran has also been accused of an attack on an Aramco facility inside Saudi territory (that attack was reportedly carried out with drones and cruise missiles). Saudi Arabia has only just restored production to its levels from before the attack. The US Navy said it was "aware" of the attack.

Oil prices jumped on news of the attack. Brent crude futures were up 2% early Friday, sending them back above $60 a barrel, hitting a new October high. Bunds and Treasuries climbed on a haven bid.

Whatever the details of the attack may be, there's no questions that the attack marks a major escalation of tensions in the region.

[Justin H + 3]

If they came from Israeli soil, that would be an almost 750 nautical mile shot. Would be impressive.

[DanilKa + 443]

20 hours ago, Justin H said:

If they came from Israeli soil, that would be an almost 750 nautical mile shot. Would be impressive.

At this stage we don’t even know if they were the rockets 

https://english.mojahedin.org/i/iranian-regime-sabiti-saudi-arabia-jeddah-fake-news-20191012

 

[Douglas Buckland + 6,308]

That’s a fairly ‘squared off’ looking hole to be caused by a projectile with a warhead. 

[Justin H + 3]

7 hours ago, Douglas Buckland said:

That’s a fairly ‘squared off’ looking hole to be caused by a projectile with a warhead. 

Boy that certainly does have that pre- fab look to it........or thermite cast cutting agent

Edited October 13, 2019 by Justin H
Added info

[DanilKa + 443]

On 10/13/2019 at 9:59 PM, Douglas Buckland said:

That’s a fairly ‘squared off’ looking hole to be caused by a projectile with a warhead. 

there are speculations blast happened under water hence no burn mark. But hull seems deformed inward. Limpet mines again?

https://twitter.com/AbasAslani/status/1183624606453772289

[Douglas Buckland + 6,308]

But the photo provided shows a somewhat squarish hole...odd.

[Gerry Maddoux + 3,627]

A split gash . . .

Otherwise known as self-mutilation.

[Boat + 1,324]

On 10/13/2019 at 5:56 AM, DanilKa said:

At this stage we don’t even know if they were the rockets 

https://english.mojahedin.org/i/iranian-regime-sabiti-saudi-arabia-jeddah-fake-news-20191012

 

Impressive square damage with ground and filed edges ready for repair. War has changed. Lol

[DanilKa + 443]

52 minutes ago, Boat said:

Impressive square damage with ground and filed edges ready for repair. War has changed. Lol

you looking at it from a wrong angle...

[Douglas Buckland + 6,308]

It’s STILL a fairly squared off hole for something which was supposedly caused by either a missile, an RPG or a limpet mine. This ‘wound’ is unnatural for a focused explosive device...in my opinion.

It looks much more like collision damage.

[Old-Ruffneck + 1,246]

6 hours ago, Douglas Buckland said:

It’s STILL a fairly squared off hole for something which was supposedly caused by either a missile, an RPG or a limpet mine. This ‘wound’ is unnatural for a focused explosive device...in my opinion.

It looks much more like collision damage.

Gotta agree with @Douglas Bucklandon this one. While there is rips in the steel it is still too squared off, makes one think self inflicted or collusion.

[Gerry Maddoux + 3,627]

Yeah, if the photos we're seeing are "real," then there is clearly something fishy about this. But we've known all along that Iran was "boxed in," isolated, running their tankers under false names and without geo-locators . . . they had to send out their signals by email, or so the story line goes. 

IMHO, they're trying to justify to the world community that they're being maligned and attacked, not by a terrorist outfit but by a country--and there aren't that many countries that would want to attack Iran. If this hypothesis is correct, then Iran is trying to stir up a skirmish with KSA without the US retaliating against the Iranian government and/or oil business. As they get more cash-starved, increasingly isolated, then they will very likely become more aggressive. 

If this is right--and it's certainly highly speculative--then this is all just a prelude. Maybe I'm getting overly imaginative in my dotage but I suspect we're going to see an oil shock within the next few months. Not only that but I suspect it'll be enough to push out the mandate on reducing the sulphur cap from 3.5 to 0.5% in bunker fuel for the 60,000 freight-carrying vessels on the high seas; after all, the International Maritime Organization is an American outfit, though it wields a lot of power. I say this because the price of bunker fuel hasn't varied much, not all that many large freighters have installed sulfur scrubbers, and nobody seems particularly concerned that we should see a massive increase in demand for low sulfur fuel with the New Year.