Two oil tankers explode – leaving at least 1 dead – after suspected Iranian attack in the Persian Gulf
At least one person is dead and two oil tankers are ablaze in the Persian Gulf after a suspected Iranian attack on the vessels.
Explosive-laden Iranian boats reportedly struck the two tankers on Wednesday, Reuters reported, citing the initial findings of an Iraqi-led investigation into the fires.
The tankers may have been carrying as much as 400,000 barrels of Iraqi oil, according to TankerTrackers.com.
Farhan al Fartousi, the director general of the Iraqi Ports Company, told CNN that the 38 foreign crew members had to be rescued from the damaged ships after the “explosions.”
Footage of the fires show the flames spreading in the surrounding water, a sign oil is leaking from the massive tankers, which were anchored alongside each other prior to the attack, according to CNN.
The Maltese-flagged Zefyros and the Marshallese-flagged Safesea Vishnu were the targeted tankers, the outlet reported.
The registered owner of the Safesea Vishnu is US-based company Safesea Transport Inc., and the Zefyros is owned by a company in Greece.
Safesea Transport did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
The reported attack took place within Iraq’s territorial waters at the al Faw port, near the city of Basra, according to Al Jazeera.
Oil prices skyrocketed this week amid supply-chain worries related to the Iran war.
About a fifth of the world’s oil passes near Iran through the Strait of Hormuz – about 600 miles south of Wednesday’s suspected tanker attacks – on a typical day.
Operation Epic Fury and Iranian counterattacks have halted most shipping traffic in the strait, leading oil producers to slash output.
The Iranian regime has vowed to prevent oil tankers from passing through the strait.
As a result, more than a dozen minelaying Iranian ships were taken out by the US military earlier this week.
President Trump has signaled he would tap the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an effort to keep prices in check.
The International Energy Agency separately announced that its 31 member nations plan to release a record 400 million barrels of oil from stockpiles in response to supply disruptions.
