Two oil tankers were attacked and burning off the coast of Iraq early Thursday, prompting the Iraqi authorities to suspend all oil terminal operations, as the Middle East conflict deepened disruptions to the global energy supply.
The two vessels were used by Iraq for its own oil transport, Iraq’s oil export authority said. Senior Iraqi officials said that one of the vessels, flying the flag of the Marshall Islands, is owned by an American company, and they confirmed that Iraqi officials believe the attack was Iranian. The officials requested anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.
The officials said the authorities were still trying to understand from their Iranian counterparts why the vessels were targeted while off the coast.
Iraq’s oil export authority identified the ships as the Marshall Islands-flagged Safesea Vishnu and the Malta-flagged Zefyros. The tankers were attacked while in a ship-to-ship transfer area, according to the authority, the State Organization for Marketing of Oil, or SOMO.
“Two oil tankers were subjected to a cowardly act of sabotage,” Lt. Gen. Saad Maan, head of the Iraqi Security Media Cell, a government entity, said in a statement published on Iraq’s state news agency.
Farhan al-Fartousi, director general of Iraq’s state-owned port company, told the Iraqi News Agency that all oil terminal operations had been suspended as a result of the attack. Commercial ports remained functional, he said.
One person was dead and emergency officials rescued at least 37 crew members, he said. He added that firefighting tugs from Basra Oil Port had been deployed to extinguish fires on both tankers, and that search-and-rescue teams were still looking for missing crew members.
The tankers were off the Iraqi coast, Mr. al-Fartousi said. He added that the tanker flying the Maltese flag, which was smaller than the other vessel, had been hit by an explosion, though it was not immediately clear whether there had been a direct strike or a waterborne explosive device.
SOMO said that the Zefyros had been loaded with condensate products from the Basrah Gas Company, an Iraqi joint venture between the Iraqi government, Shell and Mitsubishi, and was preparing to enter the Khor Al Zubair port Thursday morning.
The tanker had completed a transfer process with the other vessel and was about to load an additional shipment of naphtha, a petroleum product, SOMO said.
“This incident negatively impacts Iraq’s security and economy,” the organization said, “and represents a threat to the safety of maritime navigation and oil activities within Iraqi territorial waters.”
The two tankers’ registered owners did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Elsewhere in the Persian Gulf early Thursday, a cargo ship was struck by unknown projectiles near Dubai, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, a British security monitor. Omani authorities also closed a key oil export terminal because of security reasons.
John Yoon is a Times reporter based in Seoul who covers breaking and trending news.
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