ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Oil terminals at Iraq's southern ports remain operational as tankers continue to load crude and exports resume, a senior oil ministry official confirmed to Rudaw on Thursday, denying reports of disruption after a drone crashed into the country's vital Umm Qasr seaport near Basra.
"The loading of crude oil into oil tankers at Iraq’s southern ports is still ongoing and exports have not stopped," ministry Spokesperson Salim al-Rukabi said, adding that authorities “are investigating reports that an unidentified object landed on one of the tankers.
"As soon as the verification and investigation process is completed, we will announce the results," Rukabi said.
The oil ministry official’s remarks come shortly after Reuters on Thursday reported that a drone crashed into an oil tanker at a terminal in Basra's Umm Qasr port, causing no damage or fire.
Citing four Iraqi oil and security sources, the agency added that crude oil flows have been suspended at all of Iraq's oil loading terminals following the incident.
The incident came a day after a previous drone crashed at Iraq's Grand Faw Port, also in Basra.
"Local authorities were notified on Wednesday morning after a drone crashed into the port's container yard," Faw Mayor Waleed al-Sharifi told Rudaw on Wednesday, adding that the aircraft was "completely destroyed upon impact."
Sharifi added that the incident "caused no damage to the port's facilities and resulted in no casualties."
Umm Qasr port is Iraq's primary deep-water seaport, located along the Kuwaiti border near the Khor al-Zubair waterway. Grand Faw, meanwhile, sits at the tip of the al-Faw Peninsula, directly across a narrow marine channel from Kuwait's Bubiyan Island.
The drone crashes come as Kuwait has reported a surge of Iranian attacks over the past two days.
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