Iraqi officials shut oil terminals after deadly strike hits Basra port

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - BAGHDAD — An attack on Iraq’s Basra port early on Thursday killed at least one person and forced authorities to halt operations at all the country’s oil terminals, officila media reported on Thursday.

Farhan al-Fartousi, the director-general of the General Company for Ports of Iraq, made the announcement in a statement carried by the state-run Iraqi News Agency.

Al-Fartousi said the attack targeted ships in the ship-to-ship transfer area of the Basra port on the Arabian Gulf. He said it remained unclear if the ship was targeted by a flying or seaborne drone, or a missile.

Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization has identified the two tankers as the Safesea Vishnu, flagged in the Marshall Islands, and the tanker Zefyros, flagged in Malta.

Rescuers recovered one dead body and helped 38 others after the attack. He said commercial ports in Iraq remained open, though the oil terminals had been shut.

The Indian Embassy in Baghdad said an Indian national was killed after two ships were attacked in Iraqi waters near Basra.

The man was on board the US-owned oil tanker Safesea Vishnu that was sailing under the Marshall Islands flag when it came under attack on Wednesday. Fifteen other Indian crew members have been evacuated to safety.

With the West Asia crisis entering its 13th day, oil terminals at Iraqi ports said they have suspended operations following the attacks on tankers, reported.

“The operation of oil ports has been suspended, commercial ports continue operations,” ANI quoted al-Fartousi as saying.

Ships remain in the waiting area and loading and unloading are ongoing at the North and South Um Qasr ports, the INA reported. — Agencies