Doha: Qatar confirmed on Wednesday that a tanker leased to its state-owned energy company, QatarEnergy, was struck by an Iranian missile in its territorial waters, amid escalating regional tensions.
Qatar’s defence ministry in a statement, said: “Qatar was targeted… by three cruise missiles launched from Iran.” The ministry detailed that Qatar’s military “intercepted two of the cruise missiles, while the third missile struck an oil tanker leased to QatarEnergy in Qatar’s territorial waters.”
“Coordination was established with relevant authorities to evacuate the tanker, which had 21 crew members on board, without any human casualties,” it added.
QatarEnergy corroborated the incident in its own statement, noting the vessel, Aqua 1 — a fuel oil tanker — had been “the subject of a missile attack in the northern territorial waters of the State of Qatar in the early morning hours of Wednesday.”
The company confirmed “no crew members had been injured and there was ‘no impact on the environment as a result of this incident.'”
The attack occurred approximately 17 nautical miles north of Doha’s coast, reports said.
Earlier reports from the British maritime security agency, UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), indicated a tanker had been hit by a projectile in the Gulf off Qatar’s capital. UKMTO stated it had received a report of an incident where “a tanker has been hit by unknown projectile on the port side causing damage to the hull above water line.”
