Middle East crisis live: Kuwait issues oil spill warning after tanker attacked in Dubai port
Oil spill fears after huge tanker attacked in Dubai portMore on the tanker attack: Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said a giant Kuwaiti crude oil tanker was directly targeted in what it described as an Iranian attack while anchored at Dubai port in the United Arab Emirates, causing damage to the vessel and a fire onboard, the state news agency Kuna said on Tuesday.The corporation said the Al Salmi tanker was fully loaded at the time of the incident and warned of a possible oil spill in surrounding waters, Reuters reports.No casualties were reported and an assessment of the damage was under way, Kuna added.ShareUpdated at 01.33 CESTKey eventsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureThe Israeli military is reportedly saying four personnel have been killed and two injured in combat in southern Lebanon.More on this shortly.ShareUpdated at 05.27 CESTTwo successive Iranian missile launches have targeted central Israel, the Times of Israel is reporting.It quotes the Magen David Adom emergency service is saying it had not received any reports of injuries after a pair of Iranian missile salvos around 5.30am local time.Warning sirens were triggered in Jerusalem and central Israel, the report said.It quoted the Israeli military as saying the missiles were either intercepted by air defences or allowed to fall in open areas.ShareExplosions heard in Tehran – reportsBlasts were heard in Tehran and power cuts hit some areas of the capital, Iranian media reported on Tuesday.“Power outages in parts of Tehran after multiple explosions heard,” the Fars news agency reported, cited by AFPTasnim news agency also reported some residents in eastern Tehran were without electricity and that authorities were working to restore power.ShareThe fifth week of Donald Trump’s illegal war on Iran has confirmed the absence of any overarching strategy, the Guardian says in an editorial today.It continues:
double quotation markThe US continues to hit Iranian targets while building up forces in the region. Iran continues to launch missile and drone attacks on Israel and neighbouring Gulf states. Tehran’s proxies in the region have entered the fray. Its closure of the strait of Hormuz has seen oil prices shoot up and had knock-on effects already visible across fuel, fertiliser and supply chains.
No amount of contradictory social media posts from Mr Trump can negate the shortages felt across the world, from Asian factories to European diesel markets. The pain is likely to get worse. There is no sign of imminent US victory or Iranian collapse.
This instead looks like a war of attrition.
See the full editorial here:ShareOil set for record monthly gain as Asia shares dropOil prices were headed on Tuesday for a record monthly rise while Asian shares were headed for their steepest fall since 2022, capping a tumultuous month as the Middle East war fanned fears of higher inflation and slower growth.Bonds were headed for their largest decline in months, owing to the hawkish sea change in the global outlook for interest rates, while the dollar recorded its strongest gain in eight months, Reuters reports.A month into the war, investors continue to be buffeted as attacks between the US, Israel and Iran escalate.“It appears markets have gone from just mechanically trading headlines ... into a little bit more of a fear mode, taking risk off the table,” said Vishnu Varathan, Mizuho’s head of macro research for Asia ex-Japan.View image in fullscreenDealers at work at Hana bank in Seoul on Monday. South Korea’s Kospi is headed for a monthly decline of more than 17% – the most since 2008. Photograph: Jeon Heon-Kyun/EPAMarkets turned a little more upbeat after Donald Trump reportedly told aides he was willing to end the military campaign against Iran even if the strait of Hormuz remained largely closed.US futures reversed early losses, with Nasdaq futures up 0.34% and S+P 500 futures gaining 0.4%.Still, Brent crude futures were up roughly 2% at $114.98 per barrel, taking their gains for the month to roughly 59% – the largest on record.Higher energy prices for longer mean more pain for Asia, which is highly reliant on energy from the Middle East.MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.55% and on track for a monthly fall of more than 12% – the most substantial decline since September 2022.Japan’s Nikkei was down 0.93% and was set to lose 12.6% this month, while South Korea’s Kospi was headed for a monthly decline of more than 17%, the most since 2008.ShareUpdated at 04.39 CESTCathay Pacific Airways’ CEO has told Reuters that the airline’s short-term priority is to maintain flight capacity, adding that any cutbacks will be a “last resort” even as the Middle East war drives jet fuel prices higher.ShareUpdated at 04.48 CESTDubai response teams have extinguished the fire on a Kuwaiti oil tanker, the city’s media office is saying, after the vessel was reportedly hit in an Iranian attack while anchored in Dubai port.The office’s post on social media also said:
double quotation markRelevant teams continue to assess the situation and take the necessary measures, and updates will be shared as they become available.
As mentioned earlier, Iran’s attack on the fully loaded tanker on Monday set it alight and damaged its hull, Kuwait Petroleum Corp said, while warning of a possible oil spill.ShareUpdated at 03.52 CESTTom McIlroyAustralia’s prime minister says uncertainty over the duration of the war in Iran is adding to Australians’ anxiety about price increases and tensions overseas.Speaking to Labor MPs at Parliament House on Tuesday, Anthony Albanese said the government was working to shore up fuel supply, even as global energy reliability was being undermined by the war.“We have been concentrating on supply, supply, supply,” he told the closed-door caucus meeting in the capital, Canberra.
double quotation markPeople are doing it tough. There is uncertainty over the war and uncertainty over how it ends. This is causing understandable anxiety.
The increase in price only adds to this anxiety.
View image in fullscreenAustralian PM Anthony Albanese has encouraged people to take public transport amid the fuel crisis. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPThe prime minister said Australia was viewed as a reliable partner for energy exports in Asia and “expect that reliability to be reciprocated”.He also said the government wanted to “avoid mandating” fuel purchases.As reported on Monday, Albanese slashed Australia’s fuel excise in half and encouraged people to take public transport after the national cabinet agreed to a plan to manage the petrol crisis.ShareThe reported Iranian strike on a Kuwaiti oil tanker is the latest in a string of assaults on merchant vessels by missiles or explosive air and sea drones in the Persian Gulf and the strait of Hormuz since the US-Israeli attacks on Iran began a month ago.Iran’s attack on the fully loaded crude oil tanker at Dubai port on Monday set it ablaze and damaged its hull, Kuwait’s state news agency reported, citing Kuwait Petroleum Corp, which warned of a possible oil spill.US crude futures CLc1 rose more than $3 or 2.9% to $105.91 a barrel on news the Kuwait-flagged Al-Salmi tanker had been attacked, Reuters reports.Work was under way to accurately assess damage to the tanker, said KPC, which according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence data is the parent company of the vessel’s registered owner and commercial operator.As mentioned, authorities in Dubai confirmed they were responding to a drone attack on a Kuwaiti oil tanker in Dubai waters and that maritime firefighting teams were working to bring the fire under control. No injuries were reported and the safety of all 24 crew members was secured, they said.Earlier on Monday, a Greek-owned container ship located off the coast of Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura reported two separate incidents where projectiles hit water near the vessel, maritime security experts said.ShareUpdated at 03.18 CESTTrump tells aides he’s willing to end war without reopening Hormuz strait – reportDonald Trump has told aides he is willing to end the US military campaign against Iran even if the strait of Hormuz remains largely closed, administration officials are saying, according to the Wall Street Journal.Such a move would likely extend Tehran’s firm grip on the waterway and leave a complex operation to reopen it for a later date, the report says.It continues:
double quotation markIn recent days, Trump and his aides assessed that a mission to pry open the chokepoint would push the conflict beyond his timeline of four to six weeks. He decided that the U.S. should achieve its main goals of hobbling Iran’s navy and its missile stocks and wind down current hostilities while pressuring Tehran diplomatically to resume the free flow of trade.
If that fails, Washington would press allies in Europe and the Gulf to take the lead on reopening the strait, the officials said.
There are also military options the president could decide on, but they are not his immediate priority, they said.
ShareTwo Chinese ships pass through Hormuz straitTwo Chinese container ships have sailed through the strait of Hormuz on their second attempt to leave the Gulf after turning back on Friday, ship-tracking data shows.The vessels sailed in close formation out of the critical waterway and into open waters on Monday, data on the MarineTraffic platform shows.“Both vessels successfully crossed on a second attempt today, marking the first container vessels to leave the Persian Gulf since the start of the conflict, excluding Iranian flag vessels,” said Rebecca Gerdes, a data analyst with Kpler, which owns MarineTraffic.Reuters also quoted her as saying on Monday: “Both vessels are steaming at an elevated speed toward the Gulf of Oman at the moment.”Iran has effectively blocked the Hormuz strait but allowed a trickle of ships through from nations it deems “non-hostile”.View image in fullscreenSatellite view of the strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global energy supplies. Photograph: Gallo Images/Getty ImagesThe passing of the two ultra-large Cosco Shipping container ships signals a diplomatic breakthrough between Beijing and Tehran as Iran widens its list of approved nations, the shipping news site Lloyd’s List is reporting.Many of the vessels willing to make the crossing are taking an alternative route, as we explain here in our visual guide:ShareUpdated at 03.15 CESTThe safety of all 24 crew members “has been secured” after the attack on a Kuwaiti oil tanker, the Dubai media office is saying.Authorities in the UAE city are continuing firefighting operations after the incident “involving a drone”, it has posted on social media, while confirming no injuries were recorded.ShareUpdated at 02.05 CESTKuwait’s air defences are currently confronting “hostile missile and drone attacks”, the army has said amid the reported attack on a Kuwaiti oil tanker in Dubai port.The army’s post on X also said (in a translation):
double quotation markThe General Staff of the Army notes that if explosion sounds are heard, they are the result of air defense systems intercepting the hostile attacks.
Everyone is requested to adhere to the security and safety instructions issued by the competent authorities.
ShareUpdated at 01.47 CESTOil spill fears after huge tanker attacked in Dubai portMore on the tanker attack: Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said a giant Kuwaiti crude oil tanker was directly targeted in what it described as an Iranian attack while anchored at Dubai port in the United Arab Emirates, causing damage to the vessel and a fire onboard, the state news agency Kuna said on Tuesday.The corporation said the Al Salmi tanker was fully loaded at the time of the incident and warned of a possible oil spill in surrounding waters, Reuters reports.No casualties were reported and an assessment of the damage was under way, Kuna added.ShareUpdated at 01.33 CESTKuwait is warning of a possible oil spill after saying a giant oil tanker has been targeted in an Iranian attack at Dubai port, according to the state news agency.A fire broke out after the attack on the Al-Salmi tanker but there were no casualties, it said, cited by Reuters.ShareUpdated at 01.34 CEST
