U.S. forces have struck and disabled an Iran-linked sanctioned oil tanker near Iran’s key export terminal, Kharg Island, deep in the Persian Gulf, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said early on Thursday, as the U.S. appears to be broadening the scope of the renewed blockade on Iran.
“U.S. forces enforced naval blockade measures against Iran on July 15 by disabling an unladen oil tanker attempting to sail toward an Iranian port in the Arabian Gulf,” CENTCOM said, after U.S. forces resumed the naval blockade against vessels transiting to or from Iranian ports and coastal areas at 4 p.m. ET on July 14.
On Wednesday, CENTCOM forces observed Curacao-flagged M/T Belma transiting international waters toward Kharg Island.
“The commercial vessel ignored multiple warnings as it attempted to violate the U.S. blockade. A U.S. aircraft disabled the vessel after firing hellfire missiles into the ship’s smokestack. The ship is no longer transiting to Iran,” the Central Command said.
The Belma tanker made a sharp turn away from Khard Island early on Thursday local time after it was hit, according to vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.
The disabled Belma is the first U.S. attack on an Iran-linked vessel since the American forces reinstated the blockade in response to Iranian attacks on commercial vessels in the southern lane of the Strait of Hormuz that’s close to Oman and thought to be guarded by the U.S.
The re-escalation in recent days has sent oil prices back up above $85 per barrel Brent and WTI up over $80, as the market started pricing in the dramatic slowdown of tanker transits through the Strait of Hormuz and the prospect of further escalation as the U.S. and Iran remain defiant in inflicting economic pain on each other.
“The concern is that renewed oil supply disruptions come amid the large inventory drawdowns through the second quarter, leaving the market more vulnerable,” ING’s commodities strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote in a note early on Thursday.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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