US 'assesses situation' after new tanker incidents

The US government is providing assistance and "will continue to assess the situation" following apparent attacks on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman, the White House said.

President Donald Trump has been briefed on the incidents.

US naval forces received two distress calls from two vessels in the Gulf of Oman at 6:12am and 7:00 am local time, according to the US Central Command with responsibility over the Middle East. A Fujairah port official identified the vessels as the Long Range 2 (LR2) Front Altair and chemical tanker Kokuka Courageous.

US destroyer Bainbridge, which was operating in the vicinity, has taken aboard 21 mariners who abandoned the Kokuka Courageous, according to the Central Command. The crew of Kokuka Courageous has abandoned ship after "a security incident" resulted in damage to the hull, operator BSM Ship Management said, adding that the tanker is in no danger of sinking and its cargo of methanol is intact.

The two vessels had recently moved through the strait of Hormuz, a major shipping and trading lane in the Middle East through which around 20mn b/d of crude and oil products transits. News of the incidents boosted oil futures prices in early trading this morning.

The Pentagon since May has increased its naval presence in the Middle East and announced a deployment of an additional 1,500 personnel to confront what US officials described in early May as threats from Iran to Mideast Gulf oil shipping and infrastructure.

Prior to today's incidents, defense officials had suggested that the increase in US military personnel in the region had diminished those threats.

"Tomorrow they will probably threaten once again to close the Strait of Hormuz. We are not impressed," the State Department said on 10 June.

The US since the late 1970s repeatedly has pledged to use its military power to ensure that Mideast Gulf oil can find its way to world markets.

The US has not officially assigned blame to Iran for the incident in May during which a very large crude carrier, an Aframax, a Handymax and a bunkering vessel were damaged off the coast of UAE. An official inquiry submitted by the UAE to the UN Security Council on the May attacks blames an unnamed "state actor." But White House national security adviser John Bolton and other US officials publicly suggested Tehran was responsible.

Iran has denied responsibility for the incidents. Iranian state-owned news agency Irna said the crew from both tankers damaged today have been taken to the nearby port of Jask.

"Suspicious does not begin to describe what likely transpired," Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said via Twitter of today's apparent attacks, noting that they took place during a visit to Tehran by Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.