Middle EastOperationsTankers

Drone attack on VLCC taking on oil in Yemen

A near miss for a VLCC from another drone strike at a terminal in Yemen yesterday has ship operators worried about passing certain hot spot areas in the Middle East.

The Hong Kong-owned, Panama-flagged Pratika VLCC was attacked by Houthis while taking on a cargo of oil at the al-Dhabba oil terminal in Hadhramaut province. The drone strike missed and the ship then left the site and is now heading west to the Red Sea with no reports of any damage to the ship, recently bought by Hong Kong’s Gigantic Ozone Energy.

Britain’s maritime agency said another drone circled a ship in the Gulf of Oman on Friday, three days after an Iranian-made drone attacked an Eastern Pacific tanker in the region.

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
Back to top button