Iran sets giant oil tanker ablaze off Dubai
TEHRAN: Iran attacked and set ablaze a fully loaded oil tanker off Dubai on Tuesday as United States President Donald Trump told countries that had not helped in the conflict to find “some delayed courage” to take the Strait of Hormuz and get their own oil.
Authorities in Dubai said the fire on the Kuwait-flagged Al-Salmi had been brought under control following a drone attack, with no oil leak and no injuries to the crew. Kuwait Petroleum Corp, the ship’s owner, said the vessel’s hull was damaged.
The attack was the latest on merchant vessels in the strait, a vital waterway for shipping oil, since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.
LSEG Data showed the vessel was heading to Qingdao in China, and was carrying 1.2 million barrels of Saudi crude oil and 800,000 barrels of Kuwaiti crude.
The Al-Salmi may not have been the intended target. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted a container ship in the Gulf over its ties with Israel. But they appeared to be referring to the Singapore-flagged Haiphong Express, which was anchored next to the Al-Salmi, according to shipping data.
After earlier threatening to obliterate Iran’s energy plants if it does not agree to a peace deal and open the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said in a social media post on Tuesday that countries running short of jet fuel needed to look after themselves, or buy from the US.
“…build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just take it. You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the USA. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us. Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!” he wrote.
The month-old conflict has spread across the region, killing thousands, disrupting energy supplies and threatening to send the global economy into a tailspin.
Crude oil prices briefly spiked again after the attack on the tanker, which can carry around 2m barrels of oil worth more than $200m at current prices. Monitoring Desk
