UAE says navigational error caused oil tankers to collide near Strait of Hormuz
A crash between two oil tankers on a major shipping route near the UAE was likely caused by a navigational misjudgement by one of the vessels, officials have said.
The Adalynn and Front Eagle tankers collided and caught on fire on Tuesday near the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow channel which connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman.
In a statement issued today, the United Arab Emirates' energy ministry did not draw any link between the crash and an upsurge in electronic interference amid the Israel-Iran conflict.
Interference has disrupted navigation systems near the strait since the two countries began firing missiles at each other last week.
The multinational US-led Combined Maritime Force's Joint Maritime Information Centre said in an advisory this week that it had received reports of interference stemming from near Iran's Port of Bandar Abbas and other areas in the Gulf region.
Tehran has not commented on the collision or reports of interference.
The UAE coastguard said it evacuated 24 people from the Adalynn, while personnel on Front Eagle were reported safe with no pollution visible after a fire on its deck.
The Strait of Hormuz - which handles around a fifth of the world's seaborne oil - links the Gulf to the northwest with the Gulf of Oman, the Arabian Sea beyond.
The Adalynn, owned by a company based in India, had no cargo and was sailing towards the Suez Canal in Egypt, according to monitoring service TankerTrackers.com.
The Front Eagle was on its way to Zhoushan in China - and loaded with two million barrels of Iraqi crude oil, the tracker said.
TankerTrackers.com said on X that the Front Eagle was moving southbound at a speed of 13.1 knots when it "executed a starboard [right] turn, resulting in a collision" with the Adalynn.
The exact cause of the collision, which resulted in no injuries or spills, is still unclear.
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Sky News
8 hours ago
- Sky News
UAE says navigational error caused oil tankers to collide near Strait of Hormuz
A crash between two oil tankers on a major shipping route near the UAE was likely caused by a navigational misjudgement by one of the vessels, officials have said. The Adalynn and Front Eagle tankers collided and caught on fire on Tuesday near the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow channel which connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman. In a statement issued today, the United Arab Emirates' energy ministry did not draw any link between the crash and an upsurge in electronic interference amid the Israel-Iran conflict. Interference has disrupted navigation systems near the strait since the two countries began firing missiles at each other last week. The multinational US-led Combined Maritime Force's Joint Maritime Information Centre said in an advisory this week that it had received reports of interference stemming from near Iran's Port of Bandar Abbas and other areas in the Gulf region. Tehran has not commented on the collision or reports of interference. The UAE coastguard said it evacuated 24 people from the Adalynn, while personnel on Front Eagle were reported safe with no pollution visible after a fire on its deck. The Strait of Hormuz - which handles around a fifth of the world's seaborne oil - links the Gulf to the northwest with the Gulf of Oman, the Arabian Sea beyond. The Adalynn, owned by a company based in India, had no cargo and was sailing towards the Suez Canal in Egypt, according to monitoring service The Front Eagle was on its way to Zhoushan in China - and loaded with two million barrels of Iraqi crude oil, the tracker said. said on X that the Front Eagle was moving southbound at a speed of 13.1 knots when it "executed a starboard [right] turn, resulting in a collision" with the Adalynn. The exact cause of the collision, which resulted in no injuries or spills, is still unclear.
Reuters
a day ago
- Reuters
Oil tankers near Iran appear to be in rural Russia as signals jammed
LONDON, June 17 (Reuters) - The Front Tyne oil tanker was sailing through the Gulf between Iran and the United Arab Emirates on Sunday when just past 9:40 a.m. shiptracking data appeared to show the massive vessel in Russia, in fields better known for barley and sugar beets. By 4:15 p.m., the ship's erratic signals indicated it was in southern Iran near the town of Bidkhun, before later placing it back and forth across the Gulf. Mass interference since the start of the conflict between Israel and Iran has affected nearly 1,000 ships in the Gulf, according to Windward, a shipping analysis firm. A collision involving tankers south of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for the world's oil, occurred on Tuesday with both vessels catching fire. One of them, the Front Eagle, a sister ship of the Front Tyne, and like it, more than three football pitches long, appeared to be onshore in Iran on June 15, data from commodity data platform Kpler showed. "There is usually no jamming in the Strait of Hormuz and now there is a lot,' said Ami Daniel, chief executive of Windward. "The culmination of all that is higher risk. It's a hot area... if you don't geolocate, there's a bigger chance you'll have an accident." Ships are required to indicate their location and are fitted with transmitters similar to GPS called an AIS, or Automatic Identification System, that send regular signals on location, speed and other data. Jamming disrupts these signals. "The problem these days is that most ships use digitised systems, so if your GPS is jammed, then you have no real form of navigating other than by the seat of your pants," said Jim Scorer, secretary general of International Federation of Shipmasters' Associations. If a ship's crew intentionally disrupts its signalling, it is called spoofing, and may indicate illegal conduct, such as an effort to conceal a cargo or destination. If a third party disrupts signals, as is happening in the Gulf, it is referred to as jamming, according to Dimitris Ampatzidis, an analyst at Kpler. The practice has become increasingly common in conflict areas, as some militaries seek to obscure the location of navy vessels or other potential targets. Jamming has been observed in the Black Sea during Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports, in the Taiwan Strait and in waters near Syria and Israel, analysts said. Several ships appeared to be on land at Port Sudan last month. "If you don't know where vessels are, you're unable to target them," said Ampatzidis. International Maritime Organization, along with other United Nations agencies, issued a statement in March expressing concern over rising cases of interference in global navigation. The oil tanker Xi Wang Mu, which was placed under U.S. sanctions, appeared to be at a Hindu temple in India earlier this year when it spoofed its location, according to analysis by maritime data platform Lloyd's List Intelligence.
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
BBC Verify Live: Using fresh satellite imagery to locate strikes in Iran and Israel
Update: Date: 09:42 BST Title: ICYMI: Satellite imagery reveals damage to Iran nuclear sites Content: Paul Brown and Shayan SardarizadehBBC Verify senior journalists Recently released satellite imagery from Maxar shows the clearest picture yet of what happened at the Iranian nuclear sites at Natanz and Isfahan. At Natanz, we can see damage to the pilot fuel enrichment plant and an electrical substation, according to analysis by the Institute for Space and International Security. This follows on from earlier analysis of radar imagery that first showed the damage. On Friday, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, told the UN Security Council that "the above-ground part of the pilot fuel enrichment plant, where Iran was producing uranium enriched up to 60% U-235, has been destroyed". Uranium-235 is essential both for nuclear power stations and also for nuclear weapons. Verified footage taken shortly after the strikes show several plumes of smoke rising from the site. On Saturday, the IAEA confirmed that four "critical buildings" had been damaged in Isfahan,, external including the Uranium conversion facility and the fuel plate fabrication plant. BBC Verify analysis of the latest images from Maxar found visible damage to at least two structures at Isfahan and an apparent scorch mark near the periphery of the site. The IAEA has said that "no increase in off-site radiation" has been recorded at either Natanz or Isfahan. Update: Date: 09:06 BST Title: Monday on BBC Verify Live Content: Johanna ChisholmBBC Verify Live editor Hello and good morning from the live page team here at BBC Verify. We're continuing to track developments in Israel and Iran as the conflict between the two countries enters its fourth day. Here's what else we're keeping across: We'll keep you updated on those lines here on BBC Verify Live - and for all the latest analysis and reaction head to the main BBC News live page.
