Saudi missile attack on Saudi oil tanker, crew safe

(PTI) Tehran, Ta. October 11, 2019, Friday

The tanker's owner suspects that an Iranian oil tanker was attacked by a missile on Friday off the coast of Saudi Arabia. The first Iranian ship has been targeted after Washington blamed Tehran for the Houthi rebel attacks on two Saudi Aramco oil plants.

The ship's owner, the National Iranian Tanker Company, said two different explosives had hit the Subitya ship and what looked like a missile attack on a Saudi port of Jeddah.

Spreading news of an Iranian ship attack, crude oil prices have risen more than two percent in the market. Tensions between Saudi and Iran have escalated following attacks on two crude oil units in Saudi last month.

The International Energy Agency has warned of the stagnation of the market following the September attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure and the rapid recovery of crude prices amid fears of a global recession.

Iran's oil tanker collapses in just two weeks after Saudi Arabia's two largest oil installations attacked, accounting for five percent of global crude oil production. The National Iranian Tanker Company said it was 100 km from the Saudi coast. Two explosives were struck on the Sabiti ship and it is believed to be a missile attack.

The NITC said the ship's crew was safe and the ship was now stable. Staff on the ship are trying to repair it. The Iranian Foreign Ministry said the tanker was attacked from the east bank of the Red Sea.

However, the Foreign Ministry refrained from naming Saudi Arabia for the attack. Oil damage from tankers in the Red Sea was caused by the damage to the ship due to the attack. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Moussavi said the investigation into the incident was ongoing and strict action would be taken against the plotters of the attack.

According to the Sheep Tracking Service tanker trackers, the Sabiti ship sailed into the Gulf by shipping one million barrels of crude oil. According to Iranian state television, a terrorist attack on the Sabit ship may have exploded. An Iranian ship was attacked for the first time on Friday after the Iranian ship 'Happiness 1' was damaged at the same site in early May.

The ship was repaired in Saudi Arabia after the attack in May, but the ship was not released until July 21. The attack on an Iranian tanker has become more stressful just before Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's visit to Iran and Saudi Arabia.