Page 19 - DMEA Week 33

DMEA NEWS IN BRIEF DMEA

Lebanon. The supplies were delivered to an oil cabinet on 10 August amid the fallout from a ship called the ‘Wila,’†the US Central
storage facility in Zahrani on 8 August, just the explosion. Command said in a tweet.
four days after the explosion, and were to be As per the Lebanese constitution, Diab and According to Refinitiv tracking data,
used by Lebanon’s main power provider, EDL, his cabinet will stay on in a caretaker capacity Wila is a Liberian-flagged oil tanker and was
for power generation. until a new prime minister is selected to form currently anchored near the United Arab
Many of Lebanon’s power plants have a government. Emirates’ port of Khor Fakkan.
been running on heavy fuel oil and gasoil ARGUS MEDIA A US official, speaking on the condition
for more than twenty years, despite having of anonymity, said the incident took place
been originally configured to run on gas. But near the Strait of Hormuz and the ship was
chronic fuel shortages since the end of the TERMINALS & SHIPPING eventually released by Iranian forces. The
Lebanese civil war in 1990 have resulted in official said the United States military was not
daily power cuts for much of the last three US military accuses Iran of involved in anything other than monitoring
decades. the situation.
Lebanon has fuel oil supply contracts with boarding civilian ship Tensions between Iran and the United
both Algeria’s state-owned Sonatrach and States increased last year following a series of
Kuwait’s state-owned KPC until the end of the The US military on Wednesday said that incidents involving shipping in and near the
year. Iranian forces had boarded a civilian vessel in Gulf.
Lebanon’s then energy minister Raymond international waters in the Gulf. In July 2019, Iran briefly seized a British-
Ghajar said last month that Lebanon had The US military’s Central Command flagged oil tanker in the Gulf after Britain
opened talks with other parties, including released a grainy black-and-white video on seized the Iranian tanker Grace 1, accused of
Iraq, to secure new arrangements from the Twitter showing a helicopter near a large ship. violating sanctions on Syria.
start of next year. But these are likely to have “Today in international waters, Iranian REUTERS
been shelved following the resignation of the forces, including two ships and an Iranian
prime minister Hassan Diab and his entire ‘Sea King’ helicopter, overtook and boarded

Week 33 20•August•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P19