BAGHDAD (AP) – An Iraqi explosives handling team is working to neutralize a “large” mine discovered at an oil tanker in the Persian Gulf and evacuate its crew, authorities said on Friday.
The statement came a day after two private security companies said sailors feared they had found a carpet mine at MT Pola, a Liberian-flagged oil tanker in the waters of the Iraqi port of Basra. A carpet mine is a type of naval mine that is attached to the side of a ship, usually by a member of a special forces diver. It subsequently explodes and can significantly damage a ship.
The Iraqi statement said the mine had been linked to an oil tanker leased from Iraqi oil trading company SOMO that was supplying fuel to another ship. Iraqi naval forces were making “a great effort to carry out the mission” safely, said Iraq’s security cell, which is affiliated with the country’s security forces.
It was the first official Iraqi confirmation that a mine was discovered in an Iraqi oil tanker transporting fuel from the Persian Gulf to another ship. He did not identify any of the vessels or provide further details.
The discovery came amid intense tensions between Iran and the United States in the waning days of President Donald Trump’s administration.
The United States has already carried out B-52 bombers and sent a nuclear submarine into the Persian Gulf for what Trump officials describe as the possibility of an Iranian attack on the one-year anniversary of the drone strike. United States in Baghdad that killed an Iranian general and a leader of the Iraqi militia.
This week, Iraq marks the anniversary with a series of events.
On Thursday, the United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations, an organization of the British Royal Navy, said on its website that an “unknown object” had been attached to the hull of a ship near the Iraqi port of Khor Al-Zubair , without providing further information.
The Pola serves as the floating storage of diesel for the Iraqi State Petroleum Marketing Organization, said Sudharsan Sarathy, a senior oil analyst at data analysis firm Refinitiv. Smaller ships transport fuel to the ship, which then makes ship-to-boat transfers in the Persian Gulf to customers.
Sarathy said Pola was making a boat-to-boat transfer with the MT Nordic Freedom, a Bermuda-flagged oil tanker.
Friday’s statement said an explosives handling team from the Iraqi Interior Ministry was taken to the scene after observing a “foreign body” attached to one of the ships in the waiting area. the international waters of Iraq, 28 nautical miles from Iraqi oil ports.
Despite the strong waves, the ship receiving the fuel was evacuated while the Iraqi team was still working on neutralizing the mine and evacuating the supply ship, he said.
In 2019, the United States blamed Iran for a series of attacks on carpet mines on oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all oil passes. Of the world. Iran denies involvement.