Reuters
Date: June 14, 2019
By: Yimou Lee; Editing by Tom Hogu

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan’s state oil refiner CPC Corp said on Friday it was still accessing the damage to a tanker it had charted to carry fuel from the Middle East that was suspected to have been attacked, while the company expected little impact to its supplies.

Tanker Front Altair was one of the two ships that was attacked in the Gulf of Oman. The United States blamed Iran for attacks that drove up oil prices and raised concerns about a new U.S.-Iranian confrontation.

Tehran bluntly denied the allegations that it was involved.

Front Altair was carrying 75,000 tonnes of naphtha, a petrochemical feedstock, when it was suspected of being hit by a torpedo, CPC said.

CPC’s vice president, Chiu Chia-shou, told reporters in Taipei on Friday that the company was still accessing the damage to the tanker. The vessel was still afloat in the Gulf of Oman, according to shipping data on Refinitiv Eikon.    [FULL  STORY]