Singapore-flagged oil tanker hit by ‘external source’ off Saudi Arabia

Singapore-based shipping company Hafnia said there was an explosion and fire on board the tanker BW Rhine, and all seafarers are accounted for

It comes a month after a Greek-operated oil tanker was hit in an attack blamed on Iran-backed Houthi rebels in neighbouring Yemen

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Seagulls fly in front of the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. An explosion rocked a ship off the port in the early hours of the morning, officials said. Photo: AP

Published: 4:00pm, 14 Dec 2020Updated: 9:51pm, 14 Dec 2020

An explosion rocked a Singapore-flagged oil tanker off the Saudi port city of Jeddah on Monday, the vessel’s owner said, in the latest in a series of attacks on energy infrastructure in the kingdom.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the blast on the tanker BW Rhine, but it comes as Iran-backed Houthi rebels in neighbouring Yemen step up cross-border attacks 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 on board,” its owner, Singapore-based shipping company Hafnia, said in a statement.

“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 centre for oil giant Saudi Aramco.

Hafnia reported “hull damage” in the blast, which struck just after midnight, and did not rule out the possibility of an oil spill.