BANGKOK, June 15 (TNA) — Thailand’s Energy Minister Siri Jirapongphan said Thailand is well-prepared to response the attacks on two fuel tankers in the Gulf of Oman earlier this week.
The Energy Ministry said he has ordered related officials to closely monitor further developments on the issue, which saw not a single party claimed responsibility for the blasts so far, while Mr Siri said Thailand would issue both yellow and red flags if the situation deteriorated.
Currently, Thailand, which depended heavily on imported oil, uses a yellow flag while the red flag would be implemented if case of the closure of the Strait of Homuz. In case of the closure, Thailand would use other measures such as oil ration.
Also, oil refinery plants in Thailand are now ordered to report on their stocks daily to the ministry. The country consumes approximately one million barrels daily.
According to an international wire reports, the two vessels were struck by explosions in the early daylight hours Thursday after passing through the Strait and travelling around 25 nautical miles off Iran’s southern coast headed towards Asia.
The Norwegian-owned Front Altair ethanol tanker was hit by three explosions.
The Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous, which was loaded with methanol, was soon extinguished while a crew member suffered minor injuries. The ship was on Friday heading towards the Oman port of Khor Fakkan.
Both incidents occurred second time in just one month. The first incident took place on May 12 when four ships were attacked. (END)
