A vessel appears to have come under attack off Kuwait, leaving oil leaking from its cargo tank, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said today.
The UKMTO said it had received a report of an incident 30 miles (48km) southeast of Mubarak Al-Kabeer, Kuwait at 22:40 GMT. The tanker was at anchor and its vessel master reported seeing a large explosion on the port side of the ship, then witnessed a small craft leaving the vicinity.
Oil from a cargo tank is leaking into the water and this may have some environmental impact, the UKMTO said. The vessel has taken on water but there have been no fires and the crew are safe.
The identity of the vessel is unclear.
This is the latest in a spate of attacks on vessels in the Mideast Gulf since since US and Israeli forces struck Iran on 28 February. But the attack near Kuwait is much further north than previous incidents, which have been concentrated around the strait of Hormuz.
Iran has threatened to burn any ship that tries to pass through the strait. It has a drone carrier ship stationed near the strait that it could use to attack transiting vessels, according to shipbroker BRS. Iran also has short-, medium- and long-range missiles to disrupt shipping in the strait.
Movement through the strait of Hormuz has ground to a halt, with traffic dropping to only a single cargo ship on 3 March from 98 cargo ships on 28 February, 18 on 1 March and seven on 2 March, according to global maritime security partnership Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC). No tankers transited the strait on 3 March. The historical daily average for all vessels through the strait is about 138 ships, JMIC said.
Crude futures have continued to rise today. The Ice front-month May Brent contract was at $83.42/bl at 10am Singapore time (02:00 GMT), higher by $2.02/bl from its settlement on 4 March when it ended unchanged from the previous session.
The Nymex front-month April crude contract was at $76.94/bl, higher by $2.28/bl from its settlement on 4 March, when it ended 10¢/bl higher.
