Vessel Sabotage - Fujairah *Update*

16 June 2019

Two vessels have been attacked whilst in transit in the Sea of Oman off Bandar-e-Jask, Iran.

The UK MTO has released the following advisory regarding the attack:

Earlier this morning, vessels in transit off Bandar-e-Jask received a distress message from the 109,894DWT laden Marshall Islands-flagged Aframax tanker FRONT ALTAIR, which said that the vessel was on fire having been hit by a “torpedo”. It has since been reported that all crew abandoned ship at 0725LT, to be safely recovered by Marshall Islands-flagged HYUNDAI DUBAI. Prior to the incident, FRONT ALTAIR was underway at 13 knots bound for China from Al Ruwais, UAE. The Iranian search and rescue vessel NAJI 10, outbound from Bandar-e-Jask, has since called at both the HYUNADI DUBAI in position 25.28N 057.17E and the drifting FRONT ALTAIR in position 25.23N 057.22E. It now appears to be returning to Bandar-e-Jask at 24 knots.

In addition to the above, the Panama-flagged Handysize tanker KOKUKA COURAGEOUS, outbound form Al-Jubail, Saudi Arabia, at 14knots, destined for Singapore along a near-identical route to that of FRONT ALTAIR, cannot now be raised via normal channels and may have also be targeted in position 25.19N 057.49E. Reports have been received that crew have abandoned ship.

Official information is limited at this time, and we will update Members accordingly.

Members are advised to operate with extreme caution and with increased vigilance in the region. Vessels should amend their voyage risk assessments appropriately.

Ships should take part in voluntary reporting schemes as outlined on the UKHO security chart Q6099 and follow best practice as described in BMP5.

7 June 2019

The U.A.E have stated that while investigations were still ongoing, there are strong indicators that the attacks were part of a sophisticated and coordinated operation carried out by an actor with significant operational capacity, most likely a state actor.

The findings have been presented to the United Nations Security Council by representatives of the U.A.E, Norway and Saudi Arabia. The findings of the investigation indicate that it was highly likely that limpet mines were placed on the vessels by divers. The attacks were carried out on pre-selected targets with the purpose of incapacitating the ships without sinking the vessels or causing a major explosion.

The U.A.E, Norway and Saudi Arabia have stated that they will share the preliminary findings with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

Industry response

In response to the attacks INTERTANKO and OCIMF have published security recommendations to vessels operating in the area which can be found here.

21 May 2019

As a result of the recent attacks off Fujairah, the Joint War Committee have updated their Listed Areas to reflect the perceived heightened risk across the region.

Areas added:    

• Oman
• Persian or Arabian Gulf and adjacent waters including the Gulf of Oman west of Longitude 58°E
• United Arab Emirates

Areas amended:             

• Saudi Arabia (Gulf coast)
• Saudi Arabia (Red Sea coast) excluding transits

The current Listed Areas (areas of perceived enhanced risk) can be found in JWLA 024 (17 May 2019) here.

13 May 2019

Explosions are reported on four vessels while at anchor off the port.

The reason for the explosions has not been confirmed by the authorities who described the acts as sabotage. No lives were lost or pollution occurred as a result of the explosions.

Our correspondents report that the situation in the area is stable and the port of Fujairah is open and operating as normal.

Local authorities are conducting an investigation on the incident.

An update will be published should more information become available.