Posted on 05/20/2019 2:42:24 PM PDT by golux
Both the Saudi-flagged crude oil tanker Amjad and the UAE-flagged bunker vessel A.Michel sustained damage in the area of their engine rooms, while the Saudi tanker Al Marzoqah was damaged in the aft section and the Norwegian tanker Andrea Victory suffered extensive damage to the stern, DNK said.
The DNK report said the attacks had been carried out between six and 10 nautical miles off Fujairah, which lies close to the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has in the past threatened to block all exports through the Strait of Hormuz, through which an estimated fifth of the world’s oil passes.
According to DNK, it was highly likely that the attacks had been intended to send a message to the United States and its allies that Iran did not need to block the Strait to disrupt freedom of navigation in the region.
DNK said Iran was also likely to continue similar low-scale attacks on merchant vessels in the coming period.
Iranian officials and the Revolutionary Guards’ (IRGC) spokesman were not available for comment.
Tehran had already rejected allegations of involvement and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had said that “extremist individuals” in the U.S. government were pursuing dangerous policies. No one claimed responsibility for the attacks.
DNK’s managing director Svein Ringbakken declined to comment, except to say that “this is an internal and confidential report produced to inform shipowner members of the DNK about the incidents in Fujairah and the most likely explanation.”
The UAE has not blamed anyone for the attack.
Two U.S. government sources said this week that U.S. officials believed Iran had encouraged Houthi militants or Iraq-based Shi’ite militias to carry out the attack.
(Excerpt) Read more at gcaptain.com ...
It certainly is logical and most likely.
I don’t understand why both the Somalian and Iranian coasts are not boat free zones.
Agreed.
I’ve long believed that if the boats of Somali pirates were destroyed and the crews were killed, people back home would be thinking “Oh, this isn’t as easy as we thought it’d be” and would knock it off.
” ...people back home would be thinking “Oh, this isn’t as easy as we thought it would be” and knock it off.”
You mean the Somalis, right?
The ships were tankers.
“As the narrowest point of the Strait of Hormuz is twenty-one nautical miles, all vessels passing through the Strait must traverse the territorial waters of Iran and Oman”
Probably attacked by boats or subs carrying scuba folks.
The question is Who stands to gain from a war with Iran?
Could be the Guards.
Could be another Gulf of Tonkin operation too.
Iran is a major waste of space.
We need trade. I find the most interesting part of this or any similar story is how it is NOT covered by the lame stream media.
We have a NAVY because of the Barbary Pirates... Same people, different era.
(Capt.) Golux
Following the Putinist deniability playbook used so successfully in Ukraine by Russia.
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