General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsJune 2019 Gulf of Oman incident - what is known (w/ footnote links)
The June 2019 Gulf of Oman incident was an incident on June 13, 2019, in which two oil tankers were attacked near the Strait of Hormuz while transiting the Gulf of Oman.[2][3] It came just a month after the First Gulf of Oman incident.[3] The two oil tankers involved in the incident were Front Altair and the Kokuka Courageous.[3] Both ships caught fire, but Frontline and Kokuka Sangyo, the owners of the two vessels, reported that all crew members from both ships had successfully evacuated.[3] CPC Corporation, who was contracting Front Altair, reported that it may have been hit by a torpedo.[4] Other reports currently suggest that the attacks may have been using mines.[2][5] Iran reported that they had rescued all 44 crew members of both vessels and taken them to Iran.[5] However, the United States Navy responded to assist both vessels after the attack and reported having rescued some of the crew.[2][5] A Dutch vessel rescued 21 people from the Kokuka Courageous, the crew members saw something suspicious on the hull, but could not identify it. After four hours the rescued crew was handed over to a 'coalition ship'.[6] US Defense officials claim that USS Bainbridge rescued 21 crew members.[7] Neither vessel was sunk in the attack, despite significant damage.[2] The attacks occurred against two vessels related to Japan, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, while Shinzō Abe, the Prime Minister of Japan was visiting Tehran. [3][4] The Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif stated on Twitter, "Suspicious doesn't begin to describe what likely transpired this morning."[7]
Response
Paulo d'Amico, the chairman of the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners, expressed concerns for the safety of other vessels in the region and their crews.[5] US officials have disagreed on the involvement of Iran.[7][8]
The price of oil jumped after the incident.[9][10][11]
Things simply do not add up that the Iranians attacked tankers related to Japan while Prime Minister Abe is concurrently in Tehran for talks regarding nuclear issues. Also, this is driving the price of oil up. Which would be directly beneficial to Saudi Arabia (among others).
Cetacea
(7,367 posts)Thanks for the post. I had no idea this happened!
Response to Cetacea (Reply #1)
Cetacea This message was self-deleted by its author.
Scoopster
(423 posts)It's a lot more likely that it's Saudi Arabia, or one of the countries in their sphere of influence.
The other thought I had was mercenaries, specifically Erik Prince's gang of fascist roughnecks.
Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)...so a scheme like this would fit that MO.
bitterross
(4,066 posts)Or Russian?
Jack-o-Lantern
(967 posts)Cetacea
(7,367 posts)Pompeo blaming Iran in presser now
Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)Act_of_Reparation
(9,116 posts)Some people are stupid. Others have been known to make mistakes.
Is it possible somebody was stupid and/or made a mistake?
Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)...but we live in dangerous times with bad actors unifying to defeat the US.
malaise
(269,022 posts)How odd that the Japanese PM is visiting the Iranian leaders.
Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)...and that it was in response to his overtures to broker a nuke deal.
That about that. Does that make a lick of sense?