Merchant shipping

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Tijdlijn van de Organisatie

Iraq renews its warning against tankers using Kharg

📅 10 Mei 1984

Iraq warned shipping companies that it would continue attacks on tankers using Iran’s Kharg terminal. The threat targeted the maritime network sustaining Iranian oil income.

Kuwaiti tanker Bahra is attacked

📅 14 Mei 1984

An unidentified aircraft attacked the Kuwaiti tanker Bahra. Competing accounts of tanker attacks complicated attribution as the conflict spread to regional commercial shipping.

Chemical Venture is struck near the Saudi coast

📅 24 Mei 1984

Iranian aircraft were reported to have attacked the Liberian-registered Chemical Venture. The incident exposed crews and shipping near Saudi waters to the wider tanker war.

Missiles strike a tanker carrying Saudi crude

📅 5 Juli 1984

A Japanese-chartered tanker carrying Saudi oil was struck near the Strait of Hormuz. Reporting blamed Iran, illustrating the danger to third-country shipping and crews.

TASS reports a Soviet tanker’s mine damage

📅 17 Mei 1987

TASS reported that a Soviet tanker had struck a mine off Kuwait. The incident exposed Soviet-linked commercial shipping to the hazards of the Gulf war.

Iranian gunboats are reported attacking two tankers

📅 27 Juni 1987

Iranian gunboats were reported to have attacked two supertankers after renewed Iraqi shipping strikes. The expanding tanker war endangered neutral vessels as well as Iranian exports.

Texaco Caribbean strikes a mine outside the Gulf

📅 10 Augustus 1987

The Texaco Caribbean struck a mine near Fujairah while carrying Iranian crude. Mine danger extended into the Gulf of Oman and affected trade in Iran’s own oil.

Attack on Jolly Rubino draws Italy toward Gulf intervention

📅 3 September 1987

An attack attributed to Iranian Revolutionary Guards struck the Italian freighter Jolly Rubino. The incident became a trigger for Italy’s decision to protect merchant shipping militarily.

Italian frigates begin escorting a merchant vessel in the Gulf

📅 5 Oktober 1987

Two Italian frigates entered the Gulf escorting Jolly Turchese. Italy’s naval deployment had moved from authorization and departure to actual protection of merchant traffic.