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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| United Arab Emirates oil tanker vanishes after drifting into Iranian waters |
| 2019-07-16 |
| [Times of Israel] Tracking data shows an oil tanker based in the United Arab Emirates traveling through the Strait of Hormuz drifted off into Iranian waters and stopped transmitting its location over two days ago, raising concerns Tuesday about its status amid heightened tensions between Iran and the US. It isn't clear what happened to the Panamanian-flagged oil tanker Riah late on Saturday night. However, its last position showed it pointing toward Iran. Oil tankers have previously been targeted as the Persian Gulf region took center stage in a crisis over Iran's unraveling nuclear deal with world powers. The concern about the Riah comes as Iran continues its own high-pressure campaign over its nuclear program after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord over a year ago. The Riah, a 58-meter (190-foot) oil tanker, typically made trips from Dubai and Sharjah on the UAE's west coast before going through the strait and heading to Fujairah on the UAE's east coast. However, something happened to the vessel after 11 p.m. on Saturday, according to tracking data. Capt. Ranjith Raja of the data firm Refinitiv told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the tanker hadn't switched off its tracking in three months of trips around the UAE. "That is a red flag," Raja said. no shit? Iranian officials have not said anything publicly about the ship, nor have officials in the UAE. The US Navy's 5th Fleet, which oversees Mideast waters, declined to immediately comment. The ship's registered owner, Dubai-based Prime Tankers LLC, told the AP it had sold the ship to another company called Mouj Al-Bahar. A man who answered a telephone number registered to the firm told the AP it didn't own any ships. |
| Posted by:Frank G |
| #13 map |
| Posted by: newc 2019-07-16 17:12 |
| #12 Facebook Page of the company that claims to own no ships but has a big fat ship on the FBook page. People who are 'liking' the posts are Pakistanis who live in the port city of Karachi. https://www.facebook.com/mouj.co/?tn-str=k*F |
| Posted by: Phaick Uneretle6310 2019-07-16 15:12 |
| #11 Bingo. |
| Posted by: Lex 2019-07-16 14:25 |
| #10 Glen may have nailed it. |
| Posted by: Woodrow 2019-07-16 14:12 |
| #9 Another possibility - turned of transponder and went to Iran to pick up a cheap but banned load of oil to resell elsewhere, & transponder will be repaired once the delivery is made. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2019-07-16 14:00 |
| #8 What the hell ?! Scrap is a bad word ? Oy, agreed, mate. 'S'crap, 's'all that is... eh wot? |
| Posted by: Lex 2019-07-16 12:24 |
| #7 An Emirates oil tanker doesn't simply drift into Iranian waters. This is the work of the sand people no doubt. |
| Posted by: jpal 2019-07-16 12:03 |
| #6 ....Heard about this early yesterday- looks like the IRGC 'encouraged ' the ship to change course into Iranian waters...where it was then seized for violating Iranian waters. The IRGC is bound and determined to get some hostages, and they don't care who they are at this point. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2019-07-16 11:52 |
| #5 What the hell ?! Scrap is a bad word ? |
| Posted by: Dron66046 2019-07-16 11:10 |
#4  Mouj-Al-bahar, registered (2006) in Sharjah, buys used ships and scr@ps them. Also sells scr@p and run-down ship material to traders. Also, some connection to Pakistan. Maybe someone took advantage of the standoff ? Iran did it by proxy using traitors in the UAE ? |
| Posted by: Dron66046 2019-07-16 11:09 |
| #3 Pirates with jammers? |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2019-07-16 11:05 |
| #2 There's no mention of a distress call. That's... odd. |
| Posted by: The peanut gallery 2019-07-16 10:38 |
| #1 "Drifted" or "encouraged"? |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2019-07-16 10:11 |