Limburg attack
| History | |
|---|---|
 Luxembourg
|
|
| Name: | Limburg |
| Builder: | Daewoo Shipbuilding |
| Completed: | 1999 |
| In service: | 2000 |
| Out of service: | 2002 |
| Fate: | Attacked October 6, 2002, Sold to Tanker Pacific Management, 2003 |
 Liberia
|
|
| Name: | Maritime Jewel |
| Owner: | Tanker Pacific Management |
| Acquired: | 2003 |
| Fate: | In service |
| Notes: | IMO number: 9184392 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Crude Oil Tank Ship |
| Tonnage: | |
| Length: | 1,089.0 ft (331.9 m) |
| Beam: | 58 m (190 ft) |
| Installed power: | Burmeister & Wain, 2 S.A. 7-cyl., 7S80MC, 34650 BHP / 29420 kW at 79 RPM |
| Notes: | |
Maritime Jewel is a double hull oil tanker built in 2000; her length is 332 metres (1,089 ft) and her width is 58 metres (190 ft). She was known as MV Limburg until 2003.
On 6 October 2002, Limburg was carrying 397,000 barrels (63,100 m3) of crude oil from Iran to Malaysia, and was in the Gulf of Aden off Yemen to pick up another load of oil. She was registered under a French flag and had been chartered by the Malaysian petrol firm Petronas.
While she was some distance offshore, suicide bombers rammed an explosives-laden dinghy into the starboard side of the tanker. Upon detonation the vessel caught fire and approximately 90,000 barrels (14,000 m3) of oil leaked into the Gulf of Aden. Although Yemeni officials initially claimed that the explosion was caused by 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 Limburg was towed to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The ship was renamed Maritime Jewel, bought by Tanker Pacific, and repaired at Dubai Drydocks from March to August 2003.
The attack caused the short-term collapse of international shipping in the Gulf of Aden and as a result, cost Yemen $3.8 million a month in port revenues.
Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack on the Jehad.net website, which has since been shut down. Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who allegedly also planned the USS Cole bombing, is thought to have been the mastermind of the attack. Osama bin Laden issued a statement, which read:
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