Near Dubai, a fully loaded Kuwaiti crude oil tanker was hit in an Iranian attack and set ablaze. The tanker, the Al-Salmi, sailing under the Kuwaiti flag, was struck on Monday, March 30, 2026, while anchored in Dubai’s port area, damaging the hull and igniting a fire on board. Dubai authorities later confirmed that the fire had been put out. Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) warned of a possible oil spill in surrounding waters and said emergency response and firefighting teams were immediately mobilized to contain the situation in close coordination with the relevant authorities. Footage from the scene showed the tanker engulfed in flames, with thick black smoke rising into the sky.
The attack is regarded as one of the most serious maritime incidents since the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran on February 28, 2026. Since late February, multiple merchant vessels in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz have been attacked with missiles and explosive drones, both aerial and maritime. The strike on the Al-Salmi was seen as an escalation because the ship was fully laden and the attack occurred close to Dubai, a major commercial and logistics hub.
According to Reuters, the Al-Salmi crossed the Strait of Hormuz in late February, around the time the first strikes on Iran took place. It later called at Saudi Arabia’s Khafji port and Kuwait’s Mina Al Ahmadi terminal before heading east toward the United Arab Emirates, fully loaded and reportedly bound for Qingdao in China, at times indicating Chinese cargo.
On the day of the attack, Donald Trump issued an unusually explicit threat against Iranian infrastructure and said Iran’s power plants, oil wells, Kharg Island, and possibly desalination facilities would be destroyed if a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was not reached soon. Oil prices had been steadily rising since the conflict began, and news of the tanker strike added further momentum in markets, with Qingdao cited as the destination port.
Source: WION