Early this morning, two tankers in the Gulf of Oman, not far from the Strait of Hormuz, were struck and disabled by explosions. The 110,000-dwt Front Altair, built in 2016 was carrying naphtha and broke out in flames following the explosion. A second tanker, the 27,000-dwt Kokuka Courageous, carrying methanol, was also damaged above the waterline by an explosion and was on fire. The 44 crew on the two ships were evacuated and were picked up by a rescue team from the southern Iranian province of Horozgan. Only one minor injury was reported. The US Navy’s U.S.S. Bainbridge, a guided missile destroyer, was also reported to be rendering assistance.

The New York Times reported that a Navy P-8 surveillance plane flying over the affected tankers spotted an unexploded mine attached to the hull of the Kokuka Courageous.  The so-called limpet mine resembled the kind of explosive that investigators believe was used against four other tankers last month off Fujairah.

The UAE concluded that the previous attack was the work of a “state agent,” but stopped short of naming names. The US has pointed the finger at Iran, which denied involvement in either attack. Today’s attack took place while Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan was visiting Iran and trying to bridge the gap between Iran and the United States.  Bloomberg Opinion commented that Iran has little to gain from the Oman tanker attacks. 
Regardless of whether Iran is responsible for damage to vessels in the Sea of Oman, it will still get the blame — and suffer the fallout.