BAGHDAD (AP) – An Iraqi explosives team is neutralizing a “large” mine discovered on an oil tanker in the Persian Gulf and evacuating its crew, authorities said Friday.
The statement comes a day after two private security firms said sailors feared they had found a sleeper mine in the MT Pola, a Liberal-flagged tanker, in the waters of the Iraqi port of Basra. A limpet mine is a type of naval mine attached to the side of a ship, usually by a diver of special forces. It explodes later and can significantly damage a vessel.
According to the Iraqi statement, the mine is attached to a tanker leased from the Iraqi oil marketing company SOMO that is filling another vessel. Iraq’s naval forces have “made a great effort to carry out the mission” safely, said Iraq’s Security Media Cell, which is attached to the country’s security forces.
It was the first official Iraqi confirmation that a mine had been discovered on an Iraqi tanker carrying fuel in the Persian Gulf to another vessel. It did not identify any vessel or provide further details.
The discovery comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the US in the waning days of President Donald Trump’s administration.
America has already transferred B-52 bomber and sent a nuclear submarine to the Persian Gulf over what Trump officials describe as the possibility of an Iranian attack on the one-year anniversary of the US drone strike in Baghdad that killed an Iranian top general has. and a leading Iraqi military leader.
Iraq celebrates the anniversary this week with a series of events.
On Thursday, the United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations, an organization under the British Royal Navy, said on its website that an ‘unknown object’ had been attached to a hull near the Iraqi Khor Al-Zubair port, without further ado. to provide information.
The Pola serves as the fuel oil storage facility of the Iraqi state oil marketing organization, said Sudharsan Sarathy, a senior oil analyst at data analysis firm Refinitiv. Smaller vessels transport the fuel oil to the ship, which then transports it to the ship in the Persian Gulf to customers.
Sarathy said the Pola is carrying a ship-to-ship transfer with the MT Nordic Freedom, a Bermuda-flagged tanker.
A statement from Iraq’s Interior Ministry said on Friday that a “foreign body” had been spotted connecting one of the ships in the waiting area of the Iraqi international waters, 28 nautical miles from the Iraqi Ministry of Interior. Iraqi oil port.
Despite the high waves, the vessel receiving fuel was evacuated while the Iraqi team was still neutralizing the mine and evacuating the refueling vessel.
In 2019, the US blamed Iran for a series of soft mine attacks on oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all the world’s oil passes. Iran denies involvement.