Approximately 7.3 nautical miles south of Al-Basra Oil Terminal (ABOT), Iraq in a ship-to-ship operation on 31st December 2020, tanker Pola was discharging her cargo to tanker Nordic Freedom, where the crew of Pola discovered a ‘suspicious object’ attached to her hull.
General Company of Ports of Iraq (GCPI) towed the tanker Nordic Freedom to a safe zone, using Jawar Al Khaleej Shipping L.L.C. (JAK) tugboats, Jawar Faw (IMO 9707314) at STBD-FWD and Jawar Um Qasr (IMO 9817573) at STBD-AFT. This allowed the Iraqi Navy to remove the object, which was later identified as a Limpet mine.
Additionally, two tugboats with advanced Firefighting capabilities: Jawar Anbar and Jawar Muthanna, one Fast Medical Evacuation vessel: Jawar 27, and an additional tugboat: Jawar Babil, were kept on standby at the site.
All the crew members remain safe and well; the safe disengagement of the Tankers and disarming of the Limpet mine demonstrate the competency and capability of the Iraqi Navy, GCPI and Jawar Al Khaleej Shipping L.L.C.
