Explosion reported on ship at Syrian port
Syrian media reported an explosion and fire on a ship at the port in Latakia on Tuesday, with initial reports indicating that the affected vessel had been used to transfer Iranian oil to Syria in the past.
The Syrian state news agency SANA reported that firefighters
extinguished a fire that broke out in a ship that was undergoing maintenance at
the port.
Smoke from the fire caused some of the workers to suffer
difficulty breathing. The ship was empty, according to SANA.
TankerTrackers.com, an online service that tracks and
reports shipments and storage of crude oil, identified the vessel as the
WISDOM, saying that the tanker had recently relocated in the port to make room
for the Iranian oil tanker SAM 121.
The WISDOM has been used to transfer Iranian oil from
Iranian tankers, including the SAM 121, to
Syria in the past, according to TankerTrackers.com.
If this was the WISDOM, this isn't the first time the vessel
has been affected by such an incident.
In April, initial reports claimed that the ship had been
targeted by a drone attack, although Iranian and Syrian media later denied the
reports, saying that a fire had been caused by a welding accident, killing one
worker.
In May, the vessel was hit by another fire, after what SANA
claimed was a technical failure in one of the engines.
The news comes as tensions remain high between Israel and
Iran after an Iranian drone strike targeted an Israeli-managed Mercer Street
ship off the coast of Oman in July, killing a British citizen and a Romanian
citizen. The United States, the United Kingdom and Israel have all threatened
retaliation and the attack has garnered international condemnation of Iran.
Iran has denied being responsible for the attack and claimed
Israel and there US are attempting to destabilize the region, but on Saturday
US Central Command (CENTCOM) released evidence that the drones used in the
attack were Iranian-made.
Less than a week after the attack on the Mercer Street,
Iranian forces reportedly attempted to hijack the Asphalt Princess tanker off
the coast of the United Arab Emirates, but fled the ship after workers
sabotaged the engines, according to the British daily The Times.
On Monday, Iranian Nour News claimed that an Israeli
submarine had secretly entered the Red Sea accompanied by two ships.
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