Iran fires at, attempts to seize tanker in dispute over March oil rig collision

Owner of the Alpine Eternity says the effort to resolve commercial dispute has been complicated by sanctions against Iran.    A Singapore-flagged chemicals and product tanker, Alpine Eternity, that was reportedly fired upon on Thursday by Iranian boats, is involved in a commercial dispute with an oil rig owner over a collision with an oil rig in March.
   This is the second time in two weeks that Iranian authorities are have fired at a ship over a commercial dispute. Earlier this month Iranian authorities released the containership Maersk Tigris, after arresting it in a cargo dispute.
   The Alpine Eternity is one of the ships in the fleet of the tanker company Transpetrol, which says is it working to resolve the dispute but that it has been complicated by sanctions against Iran.
   CNN reported, “The incident began when five small fast boats, believed to be manned by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy approached the cargo vessel just off the coast of the United Arab Emirates but in international water.”
   The ships fired shots across the bow, but the tanker escaped into United Arab Emirates waters.
   The newspaper Iran Daily said the ship was in Dubai and quoted the director of an oil field development project having called on Iran’s neighbors to seize the ship and “hand it over to the country for seriously damaging an Iranian oil rig and fleeing the scene.”
   Iran Daily said, “Director of the consortium for phase 13 of the South Pars project, Habib Jadidi, said the Alpine Eternity was trying to leave the region before the issue could be resolved.”
   The newspaper quoted the Ministry of Petroleum in Iran, who said the tanker, operated by Norway’s Transpetrol TM AS, hit the the Iranian rig in March causing $300 million in damage.
   A statement issued by on behalf of the owners and managers of the Alpine Eternity said the ship was en route to Mesaieed, Qatar, when it collided with what it said was “an uncharted object, subsequently identified as a jacket platform.”
   The statement said the incident caused no personal injuries to the crew and there was no pollution, but that tanker had sustained significant damage, which was repaired at a drydock in Bahrain.
   It added, “Since the March 21 incident, there has been a continuous dialogue between the owners/drilling contractor of the offshore structure, and representatives of the vessel and their liability insurers. An underwater survey of damage to the jacket has been performed and discussions are on-going in good faith for full surveys to take place, after which the scope of repair/replacement options will be clearer.”
    “In ordinary circumstances, the liability insurers would post security on behalf of owners, however current sanctions have made this difficult and this has been discussed in full with the Iranian counterparts. The Owners, managers and the liability insurers are committed to resolving these issues once all necessary clearances have been obtained from the appropriate authorities in the UK and USA.”
   The owners and managers of the Alpine Eternity said that they “can see no reason why the Iranian Authorities should try to seize the vessel, given the advanced state of negotiations and on-going dialogue with the Iranian counterparts.”