The Zefyros tanker was struck by a projectile overnight during a ship-to-ship transfer in Iraqi waters, its Greece-based manager said yesterday.
The incident occurred at Iraq’s Umm Qasar anchorage during a fuel cargo transfer with the Safesea Vishnu tanker late on Wednesday, Benetech Shipping SA said.
“All 23 crew members are safe and accounted for. They have been evacuated and were brought to shore,” it said in a statement, adding the vessel’s condition was being assessed.
The Safesea Vishnu was chartered by an Iraqi company contracted with the State Organisation for Marketing of Oil, SOMO said, adding the Zefyros was loaded with condensate products from Basra Gas Company and was in a ship-to-ship loading area in Iraqi waters.
At least 16 tankers and other vessels have come under attack in the Gulf during the US-Israeli war with Iran while hundreds more have dropped anchor due to Tehran’s threat to attack nearby shipping.
Explosives-laden Iranian boats appeared to have attacked the two tankers in Iraqi waters on Wednesday, setting them ablaze and killing one crew member, according to sources.
Around 20,000 seafarers aboard vessels operating in the region face “a dangerous and highly uncertain security situation”, said Joe Kramek, president and chief executive of the World Shipping Council.
“Seafarers are not part of this conflict, yet they are increasingly caught in its path.”
Thailand’s foreign ministry said it had conveyed its “strongest protest” to Iran’s ambassador after two projectiles of unknown origin struck the Thai-flagged Mayuree Naree dry bulk vessel on Wednesday, causing a fire and damaging the engine room.
The ministry said the Iranian ambassador expressed condolences and gave assurances to promptly convey Thailand’s protest to Tehran.
German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd said on Thursday that projectile fragments hit container vessel Source Blessing near the Strait of Hormuz at the southern tip of the Gulf near Iran.
It said the ship, which chartered to Danish container line Maersk, was not directly hit but had caught fire.
All crew were safe, it said.
An overnight air strike that hit an Italian military base in Iraqi Kurdistan was deliberate, the defence ministry said yesterday, targeting a facility hosting Nato personnel amid the ongoing conflict with Iran.
The strike on Erbil’s Camp Singara, which caused no injuries, came as regional tensions escalate following the war against Iran launched nearly two weeks ago by the US and Israel.
“Absolutely yes. That is a Nato base within Operation Inherent Resolve, so it is also an American base,” Minister Guido Crosetto told Italian state broadcaster RAI when asked whether the attack had been intentional.
Crosetto did not indicate who was responsible for the strike, seemingly linked to the wider conflict, but said the 141 Italian soldiers stationed at the site would return home, describing the move as previously planned.
“We have already brought 102 people back from that mission, and we moved around 40 to Jordan,” he said.
Italy’s soldiers in Erbil mainly carry out training tasks with the Kurdish security forces.
The ministry initially spoke of a missile, but sources later said the facility was hit by a drone that destroyed a military vehicle used for logistics.
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