WANA (May 11) – New reports suggest that the Emirati oil tanker Barakah, which was targeted in a drone attack in the Strait of Hormuz last week, had been involved in a covert ship-to-ship oil transfer operation shortly before the incident.

 

According to TankerTrackers, a maritime cargo monitoring firm, satellite imagery from the time of the attack indicates that the tanker — linked to the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) — was engaged in a hidden oil transfer activity prior to being struck.

The report states that after completing the ship-to-ship transfer, the Barakah was sailing back empty to load another cargo when it was hit by two drones.

 

A week earlier, ADNOC’s shipping and logistics division had confirmed that one of its tankers was targeted in a drone attack in the Strait of Hormuz, though the company did not disclose details about the vessel’s cargo or its activities at the time.

 

The TankerTrackers revelation now sheds new light on covert oil transfer operations in the strategically sensitive waters of the Persian Gulf — an issue that has drawn renewed international attention in recent months amid tighter energy sanctions and increased maritime monitoring.