Posted on 05/15/2015 11:00:13 AM PDT by thackney
On Thursday, Iranian boats fired shots across the bow of the Singapore-flagged oil tanker, Alpine Eternity, in the Persian Gulf in an attempt to stop the ship. Both US and Iranian sources say the reason for this action was an apparent attempt to disable the oil tanker over a financial row over damage to an Iranian oil platform.
The US official told the AP that the Alpine Eternity is involved in a financial dispute with Iran. On March 22, the said tanker accidentally struck and damaged an Iranian oil platform. The tanker was also damaged in the incident and went into port for repairs. During this time, the AP reports, the Iranians informed the shipping company that it must pay for damage to the oil platform.
With the dispute unsettled, the Iranians confronted the Alpine Eternity Thursday near Abu Musa island, the US official said. The US Navy communicated with the Alpine Eternity after the Iranians fired at it, the official told the AP, but when it became clear the incident was over, no US vessels were deployed to the scene.
Iran's Account: Alpine Eternity Fled To Dubai After Hitting South Pars Platform Meanwhile, Iran's PressTV is reporting that Director of the consortium for phase 13 of the South Pars project, Habib Jadidi, said the Alpine Eternity was trying to leave the region before the issue could be settled, fleeing to Dubai after being ordered into Iranian waters by the coast guard.
“We want neighboring countries to make the necessary cooperation on confiscation and handing over of this particular vessel,” he said.
PressTV reports that the tanker hit the rig at 03:00 a.m. local time March 22 after drifting 25-30 miles away from its normal course, Iran's Ministry of Petroleum quoted Jadidi as saying.
He said the collision caused $300 million of damage to the rig. He added that Transpetrol was informed of the damage but has so far taken no measures to pay for it, he said.
“The collision has created a very dangerous situation for the wells which have reached the gas reservoir. If it is not quickly tackled, wellhead installations will be damaged and if no gas flows from the wells it could lead to unpleasant hazards and pollution of the sea,” Jadidi explained.
The official told the Iranian news outlet that his company had the coordinates of the wells internationally registered four years ago, while the platform stood 10 meters above the water surface with all the alert lights and other warning systems installed on it.
“Based on the acknowledgement of the Norwegian company, the sailors of the vessel had reminded the captain of the risks of a collision but his dereliction and negligence has caused this accident,” he told PressTV.
A “Palestinian” I worked with told this story. (Approximation.) “My brother (In the Palestinian territory) hit a boy with his dump truck. If you kill somebody there the family rushes out and holds you hostage until your family pays. A boy would be a lot of money as you have to pay for all the money he might earn over a lifetime. Nobody saw so he just threw him in the truck and disposed of him.” He smiled and laughed through the story in apparent enjoyment. My take-away is, if something happens in the Middle East, put the pedal to the metal and haul your boat away fast.
Interesting situation. Seems the sand people have a case, but may not have the brains to solve it in the correct manner.
Yep, that tanker zipped over, hit the speed boat, turned around, then zipped off!
Were they burning rubber?............
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