Two oil tankers struck in suspected attacks in Gulf of Oman - shipping firms

by Lisa Barrington, Rania El Gamal

 

DUBAI (Reuters) - Two oil tankers were hit in suspected attacks in the Gulf of Oman, shipping firms and industry sources said on Thursday, sending oil prices as much as 4% higher a month after four other tankers were damaged by limpet mines in the region.

 

One of the tankers, the Front Altair, carrying a cargo of petrochemical feedstock, was ablaze in waters between Gulf Arab states and Iran.

 

Iran’s state news agency said it had sunk, although the Norwegian owner had said it was afloat and its crew were safe. The other tanker was adrift without any crew.

 

The Bahrain-based U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet said it was assisting the tankers after receiving distress calls. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, part of Britain’s Royal Navy, said it was investigating with its partners.

 

Full details about Thursday’s incident were not immediately clear. The firm which chartered one of the vessels said it suspected a torpedo had hit the ship, while a source said the other might have been damaged by a magnetic mine.

 

An investigation blamed limpet mines for last month’s attacks on four tankers. Saudi Arabia and the United States blamed Iran for those attacks, a charge Tehran denies.

 

Oil prices surged as much as 4% after Thursday’s news. The region was already on edge following attacks in May on Gulf oil assets that occurred amid a dispute between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-06-13

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One Japanese owned tanker and one with a Japan bound shipment precisely as Japanese Prime Minister Abe welcomes Iranian President Rouhani. What theatre, it seems time may be just about up. I do pray everyone keeps a cool head.

 

Stay safe and make sure your TM30s are up to date, Thailand suddenly looks like a safe place.

 

Edited June 13, 20197 yr by rabas

Who profits?

Does Iran profit in any way from an attack like that? Why would they do it?

 

On the other hand: If the US or Israel did it and they blame Iran that opens up a lot of possibilities.

Trump is happy for every distraction from his personal problems and I am sure Bolton is happy to have another reason to attack Iran. And for whatever strange reasons there are still people out there who believe the US are the good guys who would never ever do something like that. Except their history is full of deceptions like this.

Glad all hands safe would be nice to catch the person responsible so no question as to who did it 

 

 

 

Todays date: 13th

 

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Who profits?

Does Iran profit in any way from an attack like that? Why would they do it?

 

On the other hand: If the US or Israel did it and they blame Iran that opens up a lot of possibilities.

Trump is happy for every distraction from his personal problems and I am sure Bolton is happy to have another reason to attack Iran. And for whatever strange reasons there are still people out there who believe the US are the good guys who would never ever do something like that. Except their history is full of deceptions like this.

I'm not asserting in any way that Iran is responsible but i can think of reasons. For one, it raises the price of petroleum. For another, it lets the world, particularly its Arab neighbors, know what could happen if the Iranians are pushed to the point of desperation.

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Who profits?

Does Iran profit in any way from an attack like that? Why would they do it?

 

On the other hand: If the US or Israel did it and they blame Iran that opens up a lot of possibilities.

Trump is happy for every distraction from his personal problems and I am sure Bolton is happy to have another reason to attack Iran. And for whatever strange reasons there are still people out there who believe the US are the good guys who would never ever do something like that. Except their history is full of deceptions like this.

 

Iran potentially profits, if it can send a message and get away with it at the same time. See what happens when you mess with us? But it wasn't us. That sort of thing. Oil producing neighbors may be in favor of the old regime change thing, but maybe less so if it's accompanied by serious disruption of their business (aka stability and survival). May want to look up the so-called Tanker Phase of the Iran-Iraq War. Iran got a bit of history on this front. Also, worth bearing in mind that the Iranians aren't necessarily master players at this game, and that as with other countries, factions may hold differing views and agendas.

 

As for the standard issue "on the other hand" - if the "analysis" remains at the level of Trump-wants-to-distract, and Bolton-just-wants-a-war, it's no wonder that two other major suspects failed to makes the list. These would be Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

 

Was there much suggestions, on this topic, that the USA are "the good guys who would never ever do something like that"?

 

 

 

44 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

I'm not asserting in any way that Iran is responsible but i can think of reasons. For one, it raises the price of petroleum. For another, it lets the world, particularly its Arab neighbors, know what could happen if the Iranians are pushed to the point of desperation.

Neither was carrying oil according to reports

It was carrying 75,000 tonnes of a liquid hydrocarbon mixture called naphtha when it was attacked at 5am UK time, CPC Corp said. The cargo's value is estimated at $30m (23.7m

The Kokuka Courageous was carrying methanol from Saudi Arabia to Singapore????

2 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Who profits?

Does Iran profit in any way from an attack like that? Why would they do it?

 

On the other hand: If the US or Israel did it and they blame Iran that opens up a lot of possibilities.

Trump is happy for every distraction from his personal problems and I am sure Bolton is happy to have another reason to attack Iran. And for whatever strange reasons there are still people out there who believe the US are the good guys who would never ever do something like that. Except their history is full of deceptions like this.

All oil producing nations profit with many of them budgeting for a much higher price than the current market rate.

1 hour ago, bristolboy said:

I'm not asserting in any way that Iran is responsible but i can think of reasons. For one, it raises the price of petroleum. For another, it lets the world, particularly its Arab neighbors, know what could happen if the Iranians are pushed to the point of desperation.

But that could be done anytime. Why would Iran attack a Japanese ship on the exact day the Japanese PM is conducting a state visit? Iran is still in very active negotiations with EU and other nations to save the nuclear deal and Japanese PM's visit was a huge win for them. So why do this now? "Because Iran is insane" I guess would be the Neocon response, but 30 years of documented Iranian foreign policy suggests quite the opposite.  

16 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

All oil producing nations profit with many of them budgeting for a much higher price than the current market rate.

 The consumer will pay , nothing new ..

9 minutes ago, usviphotography said:

But that could be done anytime. Why would Iran attack a Japanese ship on the exact day the Japanese PM is conducting a state visit? Iran is still in very active negotiations with EU and other nations to save the nuclear deal and Japanese PM's visit was a huge win for them. So why do this now? "Because Iran is insane" I guess would be the Neocon response, but 30 years of documented Iranian foreign policy suggests quite the opposite.  

 

I seriously doubt "30 years of documented Iranian foreign policy" suggests that they always make the right decisions.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-14/us-releases-video-it-says-shows-iranian-military-recovering-mine/11209948

16 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

Neither was carrying oil according to reports

It was carrying 75,000 tonnes of a liquid hydrocarbon mixture called naphtha when it was attacked at 5am UK time, CPC Corp said. The cargo's value is estimated at $30m (23.7m

The Kokuka Courageous was carrying methanol from Saudi Arabia to Singapore????

So as long as the attacks aren't on tankers that are carrying petroleum, then the markets are going to think that petroleum tankers are safe from attack?

14 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

So as long as the attacks aren't on tankers that are carrying petroleum, then the markets are going to think that petroleum tankers are safe from attack?

Naphtha is a petroleum product with a slightly lower rating than the stuff you put in your car, usually used for industrial purposes like ammonia production.  

33 minutes ago, Ozman52 said:

Naphtha is a petroleum product with a slightly lower rating than the stuff you put in your car, usually used for industrial purposes like ammonia production.  

Well, thanks for letting me know what naphtha is. But unless the world is likely to  believe that there's some kind of serial ship attacker who is only interested in attacking certain refined petroleum products and not crude,  I don't see what relevance that has to the threat potential.

Troll post and off topic gif removed also a reply

 

Edit:   Conspiracy post also removed.  

Edited June 14, 20197 yr by Scott

On 6/13/2019 at 7:52 PM, Tug said:

Glad all hands safe would be nice to catch the person responsible so no question as to who did it

Just wonder, satellites all around the globe and a rocket cannot be traced? Same as with MH17. 

Too many false flags these days

 

Edit: not necesarily a rocket of course

Edited June 14, 20197 yr by hugocnx

On 6/13/2019 at 10:07 PM, sammieuk1 said:

Neither was carrying oil according to reports

It was carrying 75,000 tonnes of a liquid hydrocarbon mixture called naphtha when it was attacked at 5am UK time, CPC Corp said. The cargo's value is estimated at $30m (23.7m

The Kokuka Courageous was carrying methanol from Saudi Arabia to Singapore????

My suspicious mind tells me that of course these ships didn't carry oil.  Would be shot in own foot. Or is that cargo more expensive than crude oil?

Edited June 14, 20197 yr by hugocnx

A post containing information from another website without a supporting link has been removed as a violation of fair use policy.

 

Edit:  Conspiracy post removed -- Scott

Edited June 14, 20197 yr by Scott