In the latest incident underscoring the dangers ships face in the Persian Gulf, a mine was discovered on the hull of an oil tanker off the coast of Iraq.
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi explosives experts were working to defuse a large mine discovered on an oil tanker in the Persian Gulf and evacuate its crew, authorities said Friday.
The statement came a day after two private security firms said sailors feared they had found a limpet mine on the MT Pola, a Liberian-flagged tanker in the waters off the Iraqi port of Basra. A limpet mine is a type of naval mine that attaches to the side of a ship, usually by a diver-member of special forces. It later explodes, and can significantly damage a vessel.
The ship with the mine has been identified as the Liberia-flagged Pola. A suspicious object was dis…