Following Friday’s (12th) reported attack on the Iranian oil tanker, MT Sabiti, the Iranian Oil Ministry has finally released images showing the damage to the vessel. The incident on Friday reportedly took place around 60 miles off Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in the Red Sea as the ship reportedly transited towards Suez. The Iranian National Oil Company (NOIC) initially suggested that the ship had been struck by two missiles.

Iran accused Saudi Arabia of attacking the vessel, something which Saudi Arabia naturally denied.

The images released appear to show three holes above the water line. The impact caused a small oil spill which has now been sealed, according to Iranian sources. The US Navy stated on Friday that it was aware of the reports but had nothing further to add.

The incident remains extremely curious. Reports have also suggested that the Iranian ‘spy ship’ MV Saviz was seen close by the Sabiti following the incident. The vessel’s AIS appears to have been disabled shortly afterwards. According to Maritime Bulletin:

SAVIZ as of now, is full of arms and military equipment, plus her own 4 50-mm guns, surveillance equipment, special forces team and 3 RHIBs.

While it’s very easy to speculate as to who could have perpetrated such an attack and the motivation behind it, logic dictates that we await further information. Iran has announced an investigation into the incident, which may take some time to complete and is unlikely to involve independent inspectors.

An explosion has caused a fire on an Iranian tanker near the coast of Saudi Arabia, Iranian media say.

The vessel, from Iran’s national oil company (NOIC), was 60 miles (97km) from the Saudi port city of Jeddah when the incident took place, reports said.

The ship’s two main storage tanks were said to be damaged, causing an oil spill into the Red Sea, but no-one was injured.

NOIC claimed the vessel was hit by missiles, but did not provide evidence.

Iran’s national tanker company (NITC) said the fire had been put out and the oil spillage reduced to a minimum, according to the news site Iran Front Page.

Iranian state TV identified the ship as the oil tanker Sinopa. The maritime vessel tracking firm Tanker Trackers said the tanker was regularly used to ferry oil to the Syrian government, despite international sanctions.

The incident came amid heightened tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Last month, 18 drones and seven cruise missiles hit a major oil field and processing facility in Saudi Arabia, which blamed Iran for the attack.

And US officials said Iran was responsible for attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf in June and July, as well as attacks on another four tankers in May.

Iran denied involvement in all the incidents.

Source: bbc.co.uk