By Yomna Ehab, Enas Alashray and Muhammad Al Gebaly
March 30 (Reuters) – A fire on board a fully loaded Kuwaiti crude oil tanker hit by an Iranian attack at Dubai Port’s anchorage on Monday was extinguished, authorities said, after the strike damaged the vessel’s hull and raised concerns about a possible oil spill.
The apparent strike on the Al Salmi tanker is just the latest in a string of assaults on merchant vessels by missiles or explosive air and sea drones in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) said early on Tuesday that the Al Salmi was struck in an Iranian attack while anchored at Dubai port in the United Arab Emirates, causing damage to the vessel and a fire onboard. It warned of a possible oil spill in surrounding waters, Kuwaiti state news agency KUNA reported.
Dubai authorities said maritime firefighting teams successfully put out the blaze which was sparked by a drone attack and continued to assess the situation, adding that no injuries were reported and all 24 crew members were safe.
Brent crude futures were up over 2% at $115.17 per barrel in early Asian hours after the news of the attack on the tanker in Dubai, but retreated a bit after the Wall Street Journal reported that President Donald Trump is willing to end the war even if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.
Brent is on course for a 59% surge in March, its largest monthly gain on record due to the war in the Middle East.
Work is underway to assess damage to the tanker, said KPC, which according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence data is the parent company of Al Salmi’s registered owner and commercial operator.
The tanker was loaded with 2 million barrels of oil from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, according to data from Lloyd’s and TankerTrackers. Lloyd’s listed the destination as Qingdao, China.
Iranian officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
Earlier on Monday, a Greek-owned container ship located off the coast of Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura reported two separate incidents where projectiles hit water near the vessel, maritime security experts said.
A representative from the Liberian-flagged Express Rome reported two unknown projectiles splashing into the water near the container ship approximately 22 nautical miles (40.7 km) northeast of Ras Tanura at 1352 GMT. The incidents occurred within one hour of each other and the crew was reported safe, British maritime risk-management group Vanguard said.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps previously claimed to have attacked the Express Rome on March 11, Vanguard said.
The operator of Express Rome did not immediately comment.
No group has claimed responsibility for the strike on the oil tanker or the projectiles.
(Reporting by Muhammad Al Gebaly, Menna Alaa El Din, Elwely Elwelly, Yomna Ehab, Enas Alashray, Ankur Banerjee, Firouz Sedarat, Jonathan Saul and Lisa Baertlein; Editing by Michael Perry and Lincoln Feast.)
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