UPDATE: Kuwait denies maximum state of alert report

KUWAIT: The Government liaison bureau on Thursday emphatically denied reports saying that the State of Kuwait has declared "maximum state of alert.” Tareq Al-Mizrem, the official spokesman of the Government and the bureau president, said in a statement that the authorities have not declared "such a maximum measure.”He was categorically denying reports saying Kuwait declared a maximum state of alert in aftermath of an incident involving two tankers in the Gulf of Oman.

Earlier, Al Qabas reported that Kuwait raised oil assets to high alert status on Thursday, following an attack on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman. The state-run Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC) said its vessels were operating as normal and the company was ready for any emergency and has taken all necessary precautionary measures to ensure the safe operation of its fleet. Al Qabas also reported that Kuwait’s National Guard and Coast Guard had also raised their security alert status in response.

Earlier on Thursday, two oil tankers off the coast of Iranin the Gulf of Oman were reportedly attacked and the crews of both tankersevacuated, sending world oil prices soaring. The mystery incident, the secondinvolving shipping in the strategic sea lane in only a few weeks, came amidspiraling tensions between Tehran and Washington, which has pointed the fingerat Iran over tanker attacks in May.

Iran said its navy had rescued 44 crew members after the twovessels caught fire in "accidents” off its coast. But the US Fifth Fleet saidits warships had received distress calls from both vessels in a "reportedattack”. The Norwegian Maritime Authority said three explosions were reportedon board the Norwegian-owned tanker Front Altair after it was "attacked” alongwith the Singapore-owned cargo carrier Kokuka Courageous.

Iranian state media said the first incident occurred onboard the Front Altair at 8:50 am 25 nautical miles off Bandar-e-Jask insouthern Iran. The Marshall Islands-flagged tanker was carrying a cargo ofethanol from Qatar to Taiwan, official news agency IRNA reported. "As the shipcaught fire, 23 of the crew jumped into the water and were saved by a passingship and handed over to the Iranian rescue unit,” it said.

"An hour after the first accident the second ship caughtfire at 9:50 am 28 nautical miles off the port.” The Panama-flagged KokukaCourageous was headed to Singapore from Saudi Arabia with a cargo of methanol,and 21 of its crew jumped and were rescued, according to IRNA.

Security incident

Singapore-based BSM Ship Management, which owns the KokukaCourageous, said it had "launched a full-scale emergency response following asecurity incident”. "The 21 crew of the vessel abandoned ship after theincident on board which resulted in damage to the ship’s hull starboard side,”it said. "One crew man from the Kokuka Courageous was slightly injured in theincident and is receiving first aid.”

It said the vessel is about 70 nautical miles from theUnited Arab Emirates and just 14 from the coast of Iran. Tehran said it hasdispatched a helicopter from the port of Bandar-e-Jask to the ships’ locationfor "further investigation”. The US Fifth Fleet said: "We are aware of thereported attack on tankers in the Gulf of Oman. "US naval forces inthe region received two separate distress calls at 6:12 am. local time and asecond one at 7:00 am.”

Oil price spike

Oil prices spiked after a merchant shipping informationservice run by Britain’s Royal Navy reported an "incident” inthe Gulf of Oman. "UK and its partners are currently investigating,”United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on its website, withoutgiving further details. Global oil prices gained around four percent immediatelyafter the reports of the attack. Benchmark Brent oil was trading at $61.74 abarrel, up about three percent.

The Gulf of Oman lies at the other end of thestrategic Strait of Hormuz from the Gulf, part of a vital shipping lanethrough which at least 15 million barrels of crude oil and hundreds of millionsof dollars of non-oil imports pass. On May 12, four oil tankers—two Saudi, oneNorwegian and one Emirati—were damaged in still unexplained attacks inthe Gulf of Oman off the United Arab Emirates.

US National Security Advisor John Bolton said Iranian navalmines were almost certainly behind those attacks but declined to providespecific evidence that Tehran was involved. The UAE said last week that initialfindings of a five-nation investigation delivered to the United Nations pointedto the likelihood that a state was behind the bombings, but added there was noevidence yet that Iran was involved.

Today’s incident came after Iran-aligned Huthi rebels onWednesday said they had fired a missile at a Saudi airport. Saudi officialssaid 26 people were wounded in the attack on Ahba airport. Iran has repeatedlyrejected accusations that it was behind the sabotage. But its arch-rival SaudiArabia still maintains it was the most likely culprit.

Saudi King Salman earlier this month warned a meeting of theOrganization of Islamic Cooperation that "terrorist” attacks inthe Gulf region could imperil global oil supplies, as he sought togalvanize support among Islamic countries against arch-rival Iran. The world’stop oil exporter has ratcheted up tensions with Iran after the sabotageattacks, which were followed by an attack on a key Saudi oil pipeline, whichwas claimed by Yemen’s Huthi rebels.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was Thursday holding unprecedented talks in Tehran with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, seeking to defuse the US-Iran tensions which have triggered global concern.--Agencies