An explosion yesterday rocked a Singapore-flagged oil tanker off the Saudi port city of Jeddah, the vessel’s owner said, in the latest apparent strike on energy sector targets in the kingdom.
All 22 sailors aboard the tanker BW Rhine escaped unhurt after the blast struck just after midnight, Singapore-based shipping company Hafnia said, but it did not exclude the possibility of an oil spill.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the alleged attack, but it comes as Iran-backed Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen step up cross-border strikes against Saudi targets in retaliation for a five-year military campaign led by Riyadh.
“BW Rhine has been hit from an external source whilst discharging at Jeddah ... causing an explosion and subsequent fire onboard,” Hafnia said in a statement, without specifying what struck the vessel.
“The crew have extinguished the fire with assistance from the shore fire brigade and tug boats, and all 22 seafarers have been accounted for with no injuries,” it added.
Saudi authorities did not immediately confirm the blast off Jeddah, a key Red Sea port and distribution center for oil giant Saudi Aramco.
Hafnia reported “hull damage” in the blast.
“It is possible that some oil has escaped from the vessel, but this has not been confirmed, and instrumentation currently indicates that oil levels on board are at the same level as before the incident,” Hafnia said.
Dryad Global, a London-based maritime intelligence firm, also reported the explosion, saying that it struck a vessel while “carrying out operations within the main tanker anchorage at the Saudi Aramco Jeddah port.”
However, it identified the Dominican-flagged tanker Desert Rose or the Saudi-flagged Al Amal Al Saudi as the possible targets.
UK Maritime Trade Operations said it was aware of an explosion and warned vessels in the area to exercise “extreme caution.”
The incident comes after an explosion last month rocked a Greek-operated oil tanker docked at Saudi Arabia’s southern port of Shuqaiq, an attack that a Riyadh-led military coalition blamed on Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
No injuries were reported in that blast on the Maltese-flagged Agrari tanker, according to its Greece-based operator TMS Tankers.
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