SABITI oil tanker, hit in Red Sea, to undergo repair

Iran Shipbuilding and Offshore Industries Complex Co (ISOICO) will repair the SABITI oil tanker, which came under attack in the Red Sea on October 11, the ISOICO managing director has said.

In an interview with ISNA published on Sunday, Hamid Rezaeian-Asl said ISOICO will pay part of the repair costs.

Rezaeian-Asl also said that attack on the Iranian oil tanker, which has reported arrived in the port city of Bandar Abbas, was against international law.

Two separate explosions, possibly caused by missile attacks, hit the SABITI oil tanker owned by the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC). The vessel was struck 60 miles from the Saudi port city of Jeddah.

The explosions hit the vessel’s hull, causing heavy damages to the ship’s two main tanks, which resulted in an oil spill in the Red Sea. 

According to IRNA, the missiles hit the right side of the tanker’s hull, creating holes measuring 50-to-150 centimeters.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced on October 15 that “one or more countries” had directed or facilitated the attack.

Zarif also said the raid on SABITI was a “state-sponsored act”.

President Rouhani also told a press conference on October 14 that “what is clear is that a regime has done it with a support of certain countries.”  

Rouhani also told a press conference on October 20 that Iran has found some clues about the attack on the vessel but investigations are underway until a final conclusion is reached.

Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), said on October 12 that Iran will give a crushing response to the evil act in international waterways.

“Banditry and wickedness in the international waterways aimed at destabilizing movement of trade vessels will not go unanswered,” Shamkhani said.

“A committee has been formed to conduct probe into the issue of the SABITI oil tanker which came under missile attacks off the Saudi coasts in the Red Sea and its findings will soon be handed over to the relevant bodies to make the required decision,” Shamkhani noted.