Tehran, November 23: An Iranian oil tanker has escaped an attack by pirates in Bab al-Mandeb in waters north of Somalia, a media report has revealed.
According to Mehr News Agency, Iran Nesa, an oil tanker which belonged to the Iranian Oil Tanker Company, was attacked on Sunday in the waters of Bab al-Mandeb — a strategic strait which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
The tanker was en route to Turkey, carrying two billion barrels of crude oil when it was attacked by two pirate boats.
The Iranian tanker managed to flee the pirates after one of their boats sank.
According to Mehr, 13 Iranian oil tankers have been attacked by pirates in the last two years. None of the attacks has led to the capture of the Iranian tankers, the report added.
About 12 million barrels of oil produced by both OPEC and non-OPEC countries are carried to the US and Europe through the insecure strait, which covers an area of 1.2 million square meters, the Mehr report said.
Somali waters are considered among the most dangerous in the world where ships are attacked by pirates almost on a daily basis.
The Iranian Navy has been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008, when Somali raiders hijacked the Iranian-chartered cargo ship, MV Delight, off the coast of Yemen.
According to Iranian military sources, the country’s navy has dispatched four fleets of warships to fight pirates off the Somali coast.
——Agencies