Share

Breaking: US Navy Dispatches Destroyer After Apparent Torpedo Attack Near Iran

Share

The United States dispatched a guided missile destroyer to the Gulf of Oman on Thursday after two oil tankers suffered what the U.S. Navy has called a “reported attack.”

“The USS Bainbridge was dispatched after the vessels suffered damage off the coast of Iran,” NBC News reported, citing Fifth Fleet spokesman Joshua Frey.

“We are aware of the reported attack on tankers in the Gulf of Oman. U.S. Naval Forces in the region received two separate distress calls at 6:12 a.m. local (Bahrain) time and a second one at 7:00 a.m,” Frey said in a statement.

The crew of a Norwegian tanker had to be rescued after the ship hit a magnetic mine, a source told Reuters.

The tanker, owned by Norway’s Frontline, was carrying naphtha, a highly flammable petrochemical feedstock. The ship caught fire, but NBC reported that the entire crew made it to safety.

Trending:
Federal Judge Has Bad News for Hunter Biden, Says There's Zero Evidence His Charges Are Politically Motivated

“We’re trying to establish what’s happened on board,” Martin Baxendale, a spokesperson for International Tanker Management, said in a statement to NBC.

In the other incident, a Japanese-owned tanker was hit by a suspected torpedo that started a fire.

“We received word that our ship was attacked,” Yutaka Katada, president of Japan’s Kokuka Sangyo shipping company, which owns the tanker, said a news conference Thursday.

Do you think we will soon know who was behind these attacks?

NBC reported that the tanker’s 21 crew members had to abandon ship, but “were picked up by a nearby Dutch-flagged tugboat.”

That attack on the Japanese-owned ship occurred as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was finishing up a two-day visit to Iran.

In a tweet Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif called the incident “suspicious.”

“Suspicious doesn’t begin to describe what likely transpired this morning,” he said.

Related:
Niger Severs Ties with US Military, Orders American Troops Out of Territory

Both incidents happened in relatively close proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, where nearly 20 percent of the oil that’s consumed globally passes through.

Likely as a result of the attacks, oil prices went up by about 4 percent, according to Fox News.

The International Association of Independent Tanker Owners, or INTERTANKO, expressed some concern over tankers passing through the increasingly dangerous Strait of Hormuz.

“Following two attacks on Member vessels this morning, I am extremely worried about the safety of our crews going through the Strait of Hormuz,” Paolo d’Amico, INTERTANKO’s chairman, said in a statement.

“If the waters are becoming unsafe,” he said, “the supply to the entire Western world could be at risk.”

As of Thursday morning, it was unclear who was behind the two incidents.

Truth and Accuracy

Submit a Correction →



We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

Tags:
, , , ,
Share
Steven is a former writer for The Western Journal and has written hundreds of stories for both Western Journal and Conservative Tribune. He is a follower of Jesus, husband to an amazing wife and father to two beautiful girls.
Steven is a former writer for the Western Journal and has written dozens of stories for both Western Journal and Conservative Tribune. Steven is a native of Louisiana but has transferred to a remote desert land often referred to as Arizona. He has a beautiful wife and two amazing daughters. You can often find him hiking the Arizona landscape or serving on the worship team at his church.
Birthplace
Shreveport, LA
Education
B.S. Church Ministries with a specialization in Church Planting and Revitalization
Location
Phoenix, AZ
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Politics, Culture, Faith




Conversation