Oil Tankers Attacked Near Oman Are Now in U.A.E. Waters

(Bloomberg) -- Damaged oil tankers that were attacked in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday are now near the United Arab Emirates ports of Kalba and Fujairah.

• Front Altair arrived in the early hours of Monday morning, according to tanker tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. Operator Frontline said it would assess the vessel’s condition and consider a ship-to-ship transfer of its cargo.
• Kokuka Courageous was towed by the USS Bainbridge to the same area on Saturday, according to a Fifth Fleet spokesman and the data.

The attacks have heightened fears of more assaults on commercial vessels after four ships were targeted off the coast of the United Arab Emirates last month. The U.S. deployed naval and air force assets to the region in response to the elevated risk.

Iranian forces were likely responsible for Thursday’s strikes, according to a report from DNK, the insurer of one of the ships. The Norwegian insurer raised its risk assessment for the region and said anti-ship missiles fired from a naval asset were probably used in the attacks.

To contact the reporter on this story: Verity Ratcliffe in Dubai at vratcliffe1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nayla Razzouk at nrazzouk2@bloomberg.net, Mohammed Aly Sergie

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.