Luke Rupping, Kuwait, 2014

The following letter has been sent by the wife of Luke Rupping in the hope of getting closure for herself and her daughter. She has asked that the Divers Association publish the letter and Annexures.

The letter has not been edited or corrected in any way.   

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

BACKGROUND

On the afternoon of January 23, 1991, the Amuriyah, an 82,000-tonne Iraqi oil tanker sunk near Bubiyan Island off the coast of Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. In 2014 it was decided the tanker needed to be removed because it was within the tanker turning circle of a proposed mooring point at Iraq’s Al Basrah Oil Terminal, through which 97percent of Iraq’s crude oil is exported. The sunken vessel is blocking construction of a vital mooring point for the export of crude oil from SMP-5. Oil sales make up 95 percent of Iraqi government revenues, so anything – such as a sunken ship – that blocks additional oil exports must be removed. On the afternoon of January 23, 1991, the Amuriyah, an 82,000-tonne Iraqi oil tanker sunk near Bubiyan Island off the coast of Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. In 2014 it was decided the tanker needed to be removed. To remove the tanker, the 285 meter long hull needed to be cut up into manageable pieces.

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