Kuwaiti tanker hit by Iranian attack in Dubai port, raising oil spill fears | US-Israel war on Iran
Iran attacked and set fire to a fully loaded crude oil tanker at the Dubai port anchorage; The attack damaged the ship’s hull and raised concerns of a possible oil spill.
Dubai officials said the drone attack caused a fire on the ship, which was extinguished early Tuesday, hours after the attack was first reported. The attack came just hours after Donald Trump warned that the US would destroy Iran’s power plants and oil wells if it did not open the Strait of Hormuz.
The attack on the Al Salmi tanker is the latest in a series of attacks on commercial ships in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz since the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran last month. The month-long conflict has spread across the Middle East, threatening to kill thousands, disrupt energy supplies and send the global economy into a tailspin.
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) said the Al Salmi was hit in an attack by Iran while it was anchored in the United Arab Emirates’ port of Dubai, causing a fire and other damage to the ship. According to Kuwaiti state news agency KUNA, a warning was issued about a possible oil spill in the surrounding waters.
Dubai officials said fire crews at sea had successfully extinguished the fire caused by the drone strike and were continuing to assess the situation, adding that no injuries were reported and all 24 crew members were safe.
Crude oil prices rose briefly after Kuwait’s state news agency reported the attack on the tanker, which could carry nearly 2 million barrels of oil worth more than $200 million at current prices, but fell slightly after the Wall Street Journal reported. reported He said Donald Trump had told aides he was willing to end the war even if the Strait of Hormuz remained closed, and that military options were “not an immediate priority.”
Brent crude oil prices rose 59% in March, on track for the biggest monthly increase on record due to the war in the Middle East.
The rise in oil and fuel prices has begun to put pressure on US household finances and has become a political headache for Trump and his Republican party ahead of the November midterm elections, who have vowed to lower energy prices and increase US oil and gas production.
KPC company said that work is continuing in Dubai to assess the damage to the tanker. According to data from industry trackers, 2 million barrels of oil from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia were loaded. According to reports, the destination was listed as Qingdao, China.
While attacks on both sides of the conflict show no signs of abating, fears of the conflict escalating to a wider scale are growing.
Thousands of soldiers from the US military’s elite 82nd Airborne Division have begun arriving in the Middle East as part of a build-up that will expand Trump’s options to include the deployment of forces on Iranian soil even as he continues talks with Tehran.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump wants to reach a deal with Tehran before the April 6 deadline he set last week after extending the deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that normally carries about a fifth of the global supply of oil and liquefied natural gas.
via Reuters
