Oil Ministry denies loading halt after object falls near Basra tanker

BASRA — Iraq’s Oil Ministry denied Thursday that crude-loading operations had stopped at the country’s southern ports, saying shipments were continuing as authorities investigated reports of an unidentified object falling near an oil tanker.

Oil Ministry spokesperson Salim Farhoud al-Rikabi told several media outlets, including 964media, that crude loading “is still continuing at the southern ports.” He said authorities were checking reports “about the fall of an unidentified object near one of the tankers” and would announce the findings after completing the investigation.

Reuters reported earlier Thursday, citing four Iraqi oil and security sources, that Iraq had briefly suspended crude loading after a drone struck a tanker at the Basra terminal. The sources said the incident caused no damage or fire aboard the tanker and did not identify the drone’s origin. Reuters later reported that loading resumed after the brief suspension, with the tanker moved away from the terminal along with another vessel anchored nearby as a precaution.

The incident followed the crash of an unidentified drone inside the container yard at Grand Faw Port on Wednesday morning, setting off an explosion that sent workers running, according to local officials and footage recorded at the scene. Faw District Commissioner Waleed al-Shuraifi told the Iraqi News Agency the drone came down in the container yard and was destroyed. “We did not record any material damage or human casualties as a result of this incident,” Shuraifi said. Authorities have not identified that drone’s origin either, or said what caused it to crash.

Grand Faw Port is one of Iraq’s largest infrastructure projects and is intended to become the country’s main deep-water port on the Gulf.

Iraq relies on its southern terminals in Basra for most of its seaborne crude shipments, and maritime disruption around the Strait of Hormuz cut export volumes earlier this year during the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. The incidents come amid renewed fighting between the United States and Iran, leaving Iraq’s oil sector exposed to disruption on its Gulf export routes.