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Posted on 03/08/2026 1:52:19 AM PST by Libloather
A commercial oil tanker was set ablaze in the Strait of Hormuz after it was struck by an Iranian suicide drone, the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Saturday, with a US Navy mission to safeguard ships through the region possibly still weeks away.
The IRGC claimed the tanker — the Prima, sailing under a Maltese flag — had ignored repeated warnings not to enter the strait, according to Tasnim News Agency, Iran’s state media.
The flow of oil through the strait — one of the world’s most vital energy arteries connecting the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea which sees roughly 20 million barrels of oil, about 20% of global supply, pass through it daily — has ground to a near-total halt since Iran declared it closed at the start of the war.
As a result, US oil prices shot up $20 a barrel in just a week, surging to $90 a barrel Friday, sparking recession fears if the US doesn’t neutralize the IRGC’s threat in the region soon.
Late Saturday, President Trump downplayed concerns about spiking oil prices.
“That’ll get healed very quickly,” he said aboard Air Force One.
The president wouldn’t directly say what steps, if any, he planned to to take to tackle rising gas and oil prices — including authorizing a release from the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
“There were some I would do it, just to take a little of the pressure off. But I think that – the oil pressure, but there’s a lot of oil. We’ve got a lot of oil,” he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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Solutions BUMP!
How bout concentrate on all the solar panels pointing the wrong way in this Country wapo,.
Oh, yeah, how filtting is that.
It is just what you all are all about...
Pointing The Wrong Way
I found what seems to be the vessel (Prima, oil tanker registered in Malta) in question, but its last reported position is 11*28.67 minutes S and 41* 5.66 minutes E. Off the coast of Africa, heading towards the Cape.
That was on the 24 of February, and it was travelling at 1.6 knots on a course of 184*, awaiting orders.
Oh and it was under “restricted maneuverability” as well.
Iran's capabilities are degraded, not eliminated. The Sraits are technically not blockaded. Yet they are effectively closed because shippers cannot obtain insurance in the war zone.
https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:2614
I would hope that the heavy bombers have been continuously pounding the Iranian side of the Strait, even as we speak, at least to take out their shoreline missile batteries.
Reminder to self - Be sure to keep your gas tank topped off.
Per the daily briefing, the bombing campaign started near the Iranian cost of the Arabian Gulf and is now proceeding towards the interior taking out everything in it’s path
Very recently, the UAE declared war on Iran. The UAE posses a very good air force. One wonders what targets the UAE forces will be assigned to attack?
They’re sending drones because their ships have all become submarines - except for the few who ran to Sri Lanka with their tails between their legs to beg for asylum...and we have pretty much attained air superiority so any war planes they may have left would be committing suicide ....
Got it, given the time lapse, it could be in the Straight, just not broadcasting on AIS.
...a US Navy mission to safeguard ships through the region possibly still weeks away.
All it takes is one hit like this and all shipping will stop. You don’t have to sink anything or actually do a physical blockade which Iran is incapable of doing. But if you can set one tanker on fire, you’ll scare the others into compliance. Said that last week and was ridiculed and flamed (no pun intended).
pure IRGC propaganda being parroted by ALL news organizations: there is zero independent verification that any such thing happened ...
question: is there any independent confirmation that does not rely on IRGC statements that Iran attacked the Prima?
Grok: No, there is no independent confirmation of the attack on the oil tanker Prima (or MV Prima) that does not originate from or rely on statements by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) or Iranian state-linked sources.
The incident was reported on March 7, 2026 (just one day before the current date), with the IRGC claiming responsibility for a drone strike on the vessel in or near the Strait of Hormuz.
They stated the Malta-flagged tanker ignored warnings about a transit ban amid the ongoing conflict following U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.Reports of the event appear widely in various outlets (including Western ones like the New York Post, TradeWinds, and others), but these accounts consistently attribute the information to: IRGC statements or press releases. Iranian state media (e.g., Tasnim News Agency, IRNA, Sepah News). Iranian officials or related channels.
No sources provide separate evidence such as:Confirmation from the ship’s owner, operator, flag state (Malta), or crew. Independent maritime security organizations (e.g., UKMTO, Ambrey, or similar firms that often verify Gulf incidents). Satellite imagery, third-party eyewitness accounts, U.S./allied naval statements, or damage assessments from neutral parties. Videos or photos of the attack/damage not tied back to Iranian claims.
In the context of the rapidly escalating 2026 Iran-U.S./Israel conflict (including Iran’s declared closure of the Strait and attacks on shipping), reports echo the IRGC’s narrative without additional corroboration.
Some articles explicitly note that the claim has not been independently verified or that no Western security sources have confirmed it.
As a result, the only available confirmation remains reliant on IRGC/Iranian statements.
If new evidence emerges (e.g., from shipping trackers, distress signals, or international maritime authorities), this could change quickly given the high-profile nature of disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.
That position was from 11 days ago.
Summary
Where is the ship?
Oil/Chemical Tanker PRIMA is currently located in the East Africa (reported 11 days, 4 hours ago)
What kind of ship is this?
PRIMA (IMO: 9427433) is a Oil/Chemical Tanker and is sailing under the flag of MALTA. Her length overall (LOA) is 111.5 meters and her width is 17.6 meters.
Hopefully, the UAE pilots are higher skilled at aircraft recognition than the Kuwaiti pilots.
Good article. But they should have said Londonstan, not London.
And don't forget to hoard lots of toilet paper!
Does it get 72 virgin drones when it martyrs itself?
The problem is that there are literally hundreds of ships to protect, and they are in a quite large area, including in anchorages in the Persian Gulf well to the north of the Straits of Hormuz, and again in the Gulf of Oman, extending well to the south of the Straits. In normal circumstances, large numbers of ships are in transit, and many others are in ports all along the coastlines.
I’d suggest you spend some time on the “What’s Going On With Shipping” channel on You Tube to get a better grasp on the enormity of the problem. The vids from the ship tracking services are quite, shall we say, instructive, and more so if put up on a large screen. (My biggest is only 43”.) In any event, be sure to be well aware of the scale you are looking at. The Persian Gulf is ~97,000 square miles area, and the Gulf of Oman is another ~44,000 square miles.
That doesn’t count the Houthis potentially getting involved in areas they’ve attacked before. (Red Sea, Arabian Sea...)
Then consider that missile defense is not a 100% proposition. We have already had a couple of our THAAD radars hit, which is a pretty big deal.
https://youtu.be/Ox63eOD9Fxs?t=255
Further yet, the insurance companies see this as a wonderful opportunity to hugely jack up rates, and without insurance, ships cannot do business with legitimate (or at least “by the book - the “Western” book) entities. Try sailing a tanker, even one exporting US oil, into any US port or terminal without validated insurance...
The US can offer insurance, but then someone has to reduce the threat greatly (see above) for the US to not itself be liable to a huge claim should a major spill occur. And, practically in another sense, only the Iranians and their ilk would risk killing off those waters — a major food supply source in the region - which already is heavily imports reliant. (Sort of a double whammy.)
All in all, if the Iranians do go for broke (seems likely), it will take a considerable effort to suppress their effort at economic warfare fully. At a minimum, if we try to do it alone, with destroyer escorts, supported by a carrier, we are likely talking about 10 or so Arleigh-Burke destroyers.
What needs to happen also is for the Gulf countries and Europe to go all in to support our suppression of Iran’s efforts. Cover / dominate every square meter the IRCG can launch trouble from. That’s a big proposal and will require a lot of coordination, or we could have numerous friendly fire incidents OR gaps left even with many resources being applied. It also requires many of these countries, particularly the Euro’s, to become much more aggressive toward Iran. I suppose money may well talk them into it, but, some countries like the UK have capability problems even worse than I’d have thought a month ago: The UK has 6 pretty good missile defense destroyers that theoretically could help, but only one really available... sometime...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LuMTF3fYfo
(AI vid, but the info. appears to be mostly correct.)
What can one say besides “ugh!”, even before we get to the “insufficiency of stones” issue. Double “ugh!” followed by retching noises?
The US may itself be caught a little flatfooted because despite all the buildup, I suspect the initial US / Israel attack got moved up after the Iranians actually bragged that they had enough enriched material for 11 nukes enriched to 60%. That was suicidal of them, but rushed us.
And, again, keep in mind: Missile and drone defense is not a 100% proposition... :-(
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