Limburg (ship) bombing
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Attacks by al-Qaeda |
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| 1st WTC – PR Flight 434 – 1st Khobar – African embassies – USS Cole – Rizal Day – 2nd WTC/Pentagon/Shanksville – Ghriba – Limburg – Mombasa – Riyadh – Casablanca – Istanbul – Madrid – 2nd Khobar – Sinai – 1st London – 2nd London – Sharm el-Sheikh – Amman – Dahab Other Al-Qaeda-connected attacks: Iraq – Algeria |
The Limburg bombing was a bomb attack by al-Qaeda against the French oil tanker Limburg (since renamed Maritime Jewel).
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[edit] The bombing
On October 6, 2002, the Limburg was carrying 397,000 barrels of crude oil from Iran to Malaysia, and was in the Gulf of Aden off Yemen to pick up another load of oil. It was registered under a French-flag and had been chartered by the Malaysian petrol firm Petronas.
While it was some miles offshore, an explosives-laden dinghy rammed the starboard side of the tanker and detonated. The vessel caught on fire and approximately 90,000 barrels of oil leaked into the Gulf of Aden. Although Yemeni officials initially claimed that the explosion was the result of an accident, later investigations found traces of TNT on the damaged ship.
One crew member, a 38 year-old Bulgarian named Atanas Atanasov, was killed, and 12 other crew members were injured. The fire was put out, and four days later the Limburg was towed to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The damage to the tanker was around $45 million USD. The ship was sold to Tanker Pacific by 2003 under the new name Maritime Jewel, who repaired it for $8.5 million USD.
[edit] Economic impact
The attack resulted in the short-term collapse of international shipping in the Gulf of Aden and as a result, cost Yemen to lose $3.8 million a month in port revenues.[1]
[edit] Responsibility
Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack on the Jehad.net website, which has since been shut down. Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who also planned the USS Cole bombing, is thought to have been the mastermind of the attack. A later statement on the attack from Osama bin Laden would read:
By exploding the oil tanker in Yemen, the holy warriors hit the umbilical cord and lifeline of the crusader community, reminding the enemy of the heavy cost of blood and the gravity of losses they will pay as a price for their continued aggression on our community and looting of our wealth.
—Statement[2], Osama Bin Laden
On February 3, 2006, Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeiee, who had been sentenced to death for the Limburg attack, and 22 other suspected or convicted Al-Qaeda members escaped from jail in Yemen. Jamal al-Badawi, who masterminded the USS Cole bombing of October 12 2000, was also among the escapees, in total thirteen of whom had been convicted of the Cole and Limburg bombings.[3] On October 1, 2006, al-Rabeiee and Mohammed Daylami were shot and killed by Yemeni security forces during raids on two buildings in the capital Sanaa. One of al-Rabeiee's accomplices was also arrested during the raids.[4]
[edit] In popular culture
The attack on the Limburg is similar to the climactic closing scene of the George Clooney movie Syriana.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Yemen ship attack 'was terrorism' (BBC)
- Statistics on the Limburg
- "Interpol issues global alert after Al-Qaeda prison break in Yemen" (Channelnewsasia)fr:Attaque du Limburg
