https://www.straitstimes.com/world/...r-on-fire-in-sea-of-oman-uk-body-starts-probe
(
do not look for clarity here.... just posting to
demonstrate the various 'versions' even within a single article updated only 6 hrs ago. )
The crew of the Norwegian-owned Front Altair abandoned ship in waters between Gulf Arab states and Iran
after a blast that a source said might have been from a magnetic mine.
The ship was ablaze, sending a huge plume of smoke into the air.
The crew were picked up by a passing ship and handed to an Iranian rescue boat.
The second ship, a Japanese-owned tanker, was hit by a suspected torpedo, the firm that chartered the ship said.
Its crew were also picked up safely. However, a person with knowledge of the matter said the attacks did not use torpedoes.
The Bahrain-based US Navy Fifth Fleet said it had assisted the two tankers after receiving distress calls.
HULL BREACHED
Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement said the Japanese tanker Kokuka Courageous was damaged
in a “suspected attack” that breached the hull above the water line while transporting methanol from Saudi Arabia to Singapore.
Japan’s Kokuka Sangyo, owner of the Kokuka Courageous, said the ship was hit twice over a three-hour period.
A shipping broker said the vessel might have been struck by a magnetic mine.
“Kokuka Courageous is adrift without any crew on board,” the source said.
The crew of about 21 or 22 people was picked up by the Coastal Ace vessel, Mr Denis Bross of Acta Marine in the Netherlands told Reuters.
He said they were handed to a US Navy vessel.
Taiwan’s state oil refiner CPC said the Front Altair, owned by Norway’s Frontline, was “suspected of being hit by a torpedo” around 4am GMT
carrying a Taiwan-bound cargo of 75,000 tonnes of petrochemical feedstock naphtha, which Refinitiv Eikon data showed had been picked up from Ruwais in the UAE.
Frontline said its vessel was on fire but afloat, denying a report by the Iranian news agency IRNA that the vessel had sunk.
Front Altair’s 23-member crew abandoned ship after the blast and were picked up by the nearby Hyundai Dubai vessel.
The crew was then passed to an Iranian rescue boat, Hyundai Merchant Marine said in a statement.
Iran’s IRNA reported that Iranian search and rescue teams picked up 44 sailors from the two damaged tankers and took them to the Iranian port of Jask.
The numbers in the Iranian media report could not be independently confirmed.
Iran’s state television showed what it said was a video of rescued crew members in Jask, showing them sitting on sofa, chatting and watching TV.
There was one woman among them.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was visiting Teheran.......... carrying a message for Iran from Mr Trump.
Iran said it would not respond to Mr Trump’s overture, the substance of which was not made public.
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Smoking Gun? False Flag? U.S. Releases Video Allegedly Showing Iran’s Mine On Tanker Hull
https://southfront.org/smoking-gun-...-allegedly-showing-irans-mine-on-tanker-hull/
The video released by Central Command shows a boat coming up to the side of the tanker. An individual stands up on the bow of the boat and removes some object from the tanker’s hull. The US says that the object is likely an unexploded mine.
Central Command statement:
“U.S. Naval Forces in the region received two separate distress calls at 6:12 a.m. local time from the motor tanker (M/T) Altair and a second one at 7a.m. local time from the M/T Kokuka Courageous.
Both vessels were in international waters in the Gulf of Oman approximately 10 nautical miles apart at the time of the distress calls. USS Bainbridge was approximately 40 nautical miles away from the M/T Altair at the time of the attack, and immediately began closing the distance.
At 8:09 a.m. local time a U.S. aircraft observed an IRGC Hendijan class patrol boat and multiple IRGC fast attack craft/fast inshore attack craft (FAC/FIAC) in the vicinity of the M/T Altair.
At 9:12 a.m. local time a U.S. aircraft observes the FAC/FIAC pull a raft from the M/T Altair from the water.
At 9:26 a.m. local time the Iranians requested that the motor vessel Hyundai Dubai, which had rescued the sailors from the M/T Altair, to turn the crew over to the Iranian FIACs. The motor vessel Hyundai Dubai complied with the request and transferred the crew of the M/T Altair to the Iranian FIACs.
At 11:05 a.m. local time USS Bainbridge approaches the Dutch tug Coastal Ace, which had rescued the crew of twenty-one sailors from the M/T Kokuka Courageous who had abandoned their ship after discovering a probable unexploded limpet mine on their hull following an initial explosion.
While the Hendijan patrol boat appeared to attempt to get to the tug Coastal Ace before USS Bainbridge, the mariners were rescued by USS Bainbridge at the request of the master of the M/T Kokuka Courageous. The rescued sailors are currently aboard USS Bainbridge.
At 4:10 p.m. local time an IRGC Gashti Class patrol boat approached the M/T Kokuka Courageous and was observed and recorded removing the unexploded limpet mine from the M/T Kokuka Courageous.
so...
so...
this was an obvious fucck up. it was SUPPOSED TO BLOW.
so...
Nice video quality. Looks more like 1919 rather than 2019.
I mean think about it. You'd get two scapegoats for the price of one. Saudi Arabia would have an excuse to squash resistance and we'd push on Iran.
