USA Publishes Essential Reading on Oil Tanker Attack

U.S. Central Command published what maritime risk intelligence company Dryad Global has called “essential reading” following the attack on the Mercer Street oil tanker.

In a statement posted on its website, Central Command noted that an expert explosive investigative team from the USS Ronald Reagan embarked the vessel to examine the evidence and interview the surviving crew members. The team was said to have discovered several items, including previous unsuccessful attack attempts and crew responses.

“The M/T Mercer Street was targeted by two unsuccessful explosive UAV attacks on the evening of July 29,” Central Command noted. “The crew reported the attacks via distress calls on the evening of July 29. Based on crew interviews, the investigative team found credible the reports of the attacks, which impacted the sea near the M/T Mercer Street,” Central Command added.

“Investigators found small remnants of at least one of the UAVs on Mercer Street that the crew had retrieved from the water, corroborating the reports,” the organization went on to state.

Central Command said the investigative team determined that the extensive damage to the Mercer Street was the result of a third UAV attack on July 30. 

“This UAV was loaded with a military-grade explosive and caused the death of two crewmembers; the master of the ship, a Romanian citizen, and a United Kingdom national who was part of the security detail,” Central Command stated.

“The explosive detonation following the UAV impact created an approximately six-foot diameter hole in the topside of the pilot house and badly damaged the interior. Explosive chemical tests were indicative of a Nitrate-based explosive and identified as RDX, indicating the UAV had been rigged to cause injury and destruction,” the organization said.

In the statement, Central Command noted that explosives experts were able to recover several pieces of the third UAV, including a vertical stabilizer and internal components, which it said were nearly identical to previously collected examples from Iranian one-way attack UAVs.

“The distance from the Iranian coast to the locations of the attacks was within the range of documented Iranian one-way attack UAVs,” Central Command said. “U.S. experts concluded based on the evidence that this UAV was produced in Iran,” the organization added.

Iran has denied responsibility for the strike, Bloomberg reported recently.

The oil tanker attack has been condemned by the G7 foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, and the high representative of the European Union.

NATO has also “strongly” condemned the attack on the Mercer Street vessel and expressed its condolences to Romania and the United Kingdom. “Freedom of navigation is vital for all NATO Allies, and must be upheld in accordance with international law,” NATO said in a statement posted on its site.

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