Tanker incident in Gulf of Oman: Live updates - CNN

The Kokuka Courageous, one of two ships involved in the security incident in the Gulf of Oman, was "attacked" twice with "some sort of shell," an official from the Japanese owner of the ship told CNN.

The first shot hit the tanker above sea level and the vessel caught fire briefly before the blaze was extinguished, according to Michio Yuube, the co-manager of the Japanese firm Kokuka Sangyo.

All 21 Philippine crew members on board the tanker were evacuated in life boats after the second shot and rescued by another ship now heading towards the UAE.  

Yuube said that the attack happened off Fujaira, and that the Kokuka Courageous is now drifting with a shipment of chemical products onboard. 

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https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/gulf-of-oman-incident-latest-intl/index.html

2019-06-13 10:53:00Z
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Tanker incident in Gulf of Oman: Live updates - CNN

All 21 crew members on the Panamanian ship Kokuka Courageous, one of two ships reportedly hit in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday, abandoned their vessel, the Singapore-based Bernard Schulte Shipping Management (BSM) company said in a statement.

One of the sailors on board was injured in the incident, BSM added.

The second ship involved in the incident is the "Front Altair," which was on fire on Thursday morning.

The incident is being investigated by the United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations (UKMTO), a maritime security sharing conduit managed by Britain's Royal Navy.

Here's the full statement:

BSM Ship Management (Singapore) has launched a full-scale emergency response following a security incident on board our managed products carrier the Kokuka Courageous in the Gulf of Oman earlier today (June 13, 2019).
The 21 crew of the vessel abandoned ship after the incident on board which resulted in damage to the ship’s hull starboard side.
The master and crew abandoned ship and were quickly rescued from a lifeboat by the nearby vessel Coastal Ace.
One crew man from the Kokuka Courageous was slightly injured in the incident and is receiving first aid on board the Coastal Ace.
The Kokuka Courageous remains in the area and is not in any danger of sinking. The cargo of methanol is intact.
BSM’s top priority is the wellbeing of the 21 crew on board our managed vessel. The Coastal Ace is in the vicinity at a safe distance from the Kokuka Courageous.
The vessel is about 70 nautical miles from Fujairah and about 14 nautical miles from the coast of Iran.
The Coastal Ace is now awaiting instructions from the UK Marine Trade Operations which is responding to the incident.
BSM Ship Management is monitoring the situation in the Gulf of Oman closely and will issue another statement when we have factual information.

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https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/gulf-of-oman-incident-latest-intl/index.html

2019-06-13 09:52:00Z
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Telegram boss links cyber attack during HK protests to China - BBC News

Telegram's founder Pavel Durov has said a massive cyber attack on his messaging service originated from China.

On Wednesday, the firm confirmed it suffered a "powerful" Distributed Denial of Service attack which disrupted services for about an hour.

In a DDos attack, hackers overwhelm a target's servers with junk requests.

It came as protestors in Hong Kong used Telegram to coordinate demonstrations over a plan to allow extradition to China.

In a post on Twitter, Telegram said the disruption affected users in the Americas and "other countries".

Mr Durov later tweeted the IP addresses involved in the attack mostly came from China.

China's Cyberspace Administration, which oversees the country's cyber policy, has yet to comment.

Telegram allows people to send encrypted messages, documents, videos and pictures without charge.

Users can create groups for up to 200,000 people, or channels for broadcasting to unlimited audiences.

Its popularity has grown because of its emphasis on encryption, which thwarts many widely used methods of reading confidential communications.

Mr Durov's comments came amid reports a man identified as a Telegram group administrator had been arrested in Hong Kong for conspiracy to commit public nuisance.

• Hong Kong in shock after anti-extradition violence
• All you need to know about the protests

Police and protesters had pitched battles in the city on Wednesday over plans to allow suspects to be extradited to mainland China.

Seventy-two people were injured, including two men who were in critical condition.

Hong Kong is part of China under a "one country, two systems" principle, which ensures that it keeps its own judicial independence, its own legislature and economic system.

People are worried that should the extradition bill pass, it would bring Hong Kong more decisively under China's control.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48619804

2019-06-13 08:20:39Z
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Gulf of Oman incident: Live updates - CNN

All 21 crew members on the Panamanian ship Kokuka Courageous, one of two ships reportedly hit in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday, abandoned their vessel, the Singapore-based Bernard Schulte Shipping Management (BSM) company said in a statement.

One of the sailors on board was injured in the incident, BSM added.

The second ship involved in the incident is the "Front Altair," which was on fire on Thursday morning.

The incident is being investigated by the United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations (UKMTO), a maritime security sharing conduit managed by Britain's Royal Navy.

Here's the full statement:

BSM Ship Management (Singapore) has launched a full-scale emergency response following a security incident on board our managed products carrier the Kokuka Courageous in the Gulf of Oman earlier today (June 13, 2019).
The 21 crew of the vessel abandoned ship after the incident on board which resulted in damage to the ship’s hull starboard side.
The master and crew abandoned ship and were quickly rescued from a lifeboat by the nearby vessel Coastal Ace.
One crew man from the Kokuka Courageous was slightly injured in the incident and is receiving first aid on board the Coastal Ace.
The Kokuka Courageous remains in the area and is not in any danger of sinking. The cargo of methanol is intact.
BSM’s top priority is the wellbeing of the 21 crew on board our managed vessel. The Coastal Ace is in the vicinity at a safe distance from the Kokuka Courageous.
The vessel is about 70 nautical miles from Fujairah and about 14 nautical miles from the coast of Iran.
The Coastal Ace is now awaiting instructions from the UK Marine Trade Operations which is responding to the incident.
BSM Ship Management is monitoring the situation in the Gulf of Oman closely and will issue another statement when we have factual information.

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https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/gulf-of-oman-incident-latest-intl/index.html

2019-06-13 09:35:00Z
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UK maritime safety body investigating 'incident' in Gulf of Oman - CNN

The causes of the fire on the "Front Altair" are still unclear but "all the crew were evacuated and they are all safe," the spokesman said.

News of the evacuation comes as a British maritime safety body said it was investigating "an incident" in the Gulf of Oman, after reports that two oil tankers had been attacked.

"UK and its partners are currently investigating," United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations (UKMTO), a maritime security sharing conduit managed by Britain's Royal Navy said in an advisory on Thursday.

CNN has reached out to the UKMTO for additional information.

CNN has been unable to confirm if an actual attack had taken place.

This is a developing story.

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/13/middleeast/sea-of-oman-tanker-intl/index.html

2019-06-13 08:03:00Z
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2 oil tankers damaged in suspected attack in the Gulf of Oman, crew evacuated - Fox News

Two oil tankers were damaged in a suspected attack off the Gulf of Oman early Thursday, according to multiple reports.

The U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet told Reuters it was assisting two tankers in the Gulf of Oman after receiving two distress calls.

``We are aware of the reported attack on tankers in the Gulf of Oman. U.S. Naval Forces in the region received two separate distress calls at 6:12 a.m. local time and a second one at 7:00 a.m.,'' Joshua Frey of the Fifth Fleet said. The Fleet did not blame anyone for the attack.

This undated photograph from the United Arab Emirates' Mission to the United Nations released Thursday, June 6, 2019, shows the damage done to the Emirati-owned oil tanker.  (United Arab Emirates' Mission to the United Nations via AP)

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations -- an arm of the British Navy -- had put out an alert earlier and urged "extreme caution" amid U.S.-Iran tensions.

The incident comes as Iranian media claimed — without offering any evidence — that two oil tankers had been targeted in the area.

FILE: The Norwegian-flagged oil tanker MT Andrea Victory off the coast of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates.  ((United Arab Emirates National Media Council via AP)

The area is near the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic route through which 20 percent of global oil consumption passes from Middle East producers. Benchmark Brent crude, in apparent reaction to the incident, rose its prices by 3.4% on Thursday.

Dryad Global, a maritime intelligence firm, preliminarily identified one of the vessels involved as the MT Front Altair, a Marshall Islands-flagged crude oil tanker. The vessel was "on fire and adrift," Dryad added.

The other vessel was the Panama-flagged Kokuka Courageous. Both vessels had been evacuated and the crews were safe, four shipping and trade sources said.

JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER AND TRUMP ALLY SHINZO ABE VISITS TEHRAN TO HELP EASE US-IRAN TENSIONS

Thursday's report comes a month after the U.S. accused Iran of attacking ships off the coast of United Aran Emirates. 

The timing of Thursday's incident was especially sensitive as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was visiting Iran on a high-stakes diplomacy mission.

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On Wednesday, after talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Abe warned that any "accidental conflict" that could be sparked amid the heightened U.S.-Iran tensions must be avoided.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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https://www.foxnews.com/world/uk-maritime-groups-warns-of-incident-in-gulf-of-oman

2019-06-13 07:52:23Z
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Two tankers struck in suspected attacks in Gulf of Oman: sources - Reuters

DUBAI (Reuters) - Two tankers were hit in suspected attacks in the Gulf of Oman and the crew have been evacuated, shipping sources said on Thursday, a month after a similar incident in which four tankers in the region were struck.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, part of the Royal Navy, earlier said it was aware of an incident in the Gulf of Oman.

“UK and its partners are currently investigating,” the group said without elaborating.

Oil prices surged by 4% after the report that raises tensions in the Gulf, which have been heightened by a dispute between Iran and the United States.

The area is near the Strait of Hormuz, a major strategic waterway through which a fifth of global oil consumption passes from Middle East producers.

Two tankers, the Marshal Islands-flagged Front Altair and the Panama-flagged Kokuka Courageous, had been evacuated and the crews were safe, four shipping and trade sources said.

There was no immediate confirmation from ship operators or authorities in Oman or the United Arab Emirates, in whose territorial waters four tankers were hit last month.

The shipping newspaper Tradewinds reported that a tanker owned by Norway’s Frontline had been struck by a torpedo off the coast of Fujairah, one of the emirates in the United Arab Emirates. It cited unnamed industry sources.

Frontline was not immediately available for comment.

One shipping broker said there had been an explosion “suspected from an outside attack” that may have involved a magnetic mine on the Kokuka.

“All crew safely abandoned the vessel and was picked up by Vessel Coastal Ace. Kokuka Courageous is adrift without any crew on board,” the source said.

Another source said the Front Altair reported a fire caused by a “surface attack” and that the crew had been picked up by nearby vessel Hyundai Dubai.

The UAE had said that the May 12 attacks on four vessels off the coast of Fujairah, a main bunkering hub, were likely caused by limpet mines and bore the hallmarks of an operation most likely by a state actor.

Saudi Arabia’s envoy to the United Nations blamed Iran. Tehran has denied any involvement.

Reporting by Koustav Samanta and Jessica Jaganathan in Singapore, Rania El Gamal in Dubai and Terje Solsvik in Oslo; Editing by Richard Pullin and Edmund Blair and Jon Boyle

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-tanker/two-tankers-struck-in-suspected-attacks-in-gulf-of-oman-sources-idUSKCN1TE0OI

2019-06-13 07:09:00Z
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