As Iran threatens to blockade the Strait of Hormuz and attack ships, signs emerged that a tanker was damaged by an explosion not only at the mouth of the Gulf (Persian Gulf) but deep inside the waters.
Reuters reported on the 5th that a tanker anchored near the Khor Al-Zubair port in Basra Province, southern Iraq, appeared to have been damaged by an explosion. The port sits deep at the northernmost end of the Gulf and is close to the Kuwaiti border.
U.S. company Sonangol Marine Services said in a statement, "At 1:20 a.m. (local time) a small, unidentified vessel approached the port side of the Bahamas-flagged tanker 'Sonangol Namibe,' and shortly afterward there was a 'bang.'"
The company said, "Crew reported a leak in the port ballast tank, which suggests the hull was damaged in some way," while adding, "The vessel remains stable and safely afloat." It added that the vessel had no cargo at the time and there were no pollution reports.
Iraqi energy and shipping sources said the tanker was moving to an Iraqi terminal under a contract with the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) to load 80,000 tons of Iraqi fuel. The vessel's deadweight tonnage (DWT) is about 160,000 tons, classifying it as a Suezmax.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on the 5th that it struck a U.S. tanker in the northern Gulf, causing a fire. It was not confirmed whether this referred to the same incident as the Sonangol Namibe. The beneficial manager of the Sonangol Namibe is Sweden's Stena Bulk Ltd., with its headquarters in the United States.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) also said the same day that a large explosion occurred off the coast of the southern Kuwaiti Gulf.