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The line of the tanker BW exploded on the 14th (local time) in Saudi Arabia. EPA = Yonhap News
The Associated Press reported on the 14th (local time) that a tanker exploded offshore near Jeddah in southwestern Saudi Arabia. The explosion was found to be due to external factors.
According to AP, the sunken ship was Singapore’s ‘BW Line’, which signed a contract with a subsidiary of the Saudi Arabian oil company (Aramco). The owner of the BW line, Hyfna, announced that it was “attacked by external factors”. The state-run Saudi Arabia news agency quoted an anonymous Energy Ministry official as noting that a remote-controlled ship carrying a bomb exploded, a method used by Yemeni Houthi rebels.
The BW line anchored in Jeddah on the 12th. The ship contained 60,000 tonnes of unleaded gasoline from the Aramco refinery in Yanbu, the western city of Saudi Arabia. Although the hull was damaged by an explosion and fire, the 22 sailors left the ship without injury and firefighters extinguished the fire, Hyfna said. Some oil spills into the sea as a result of this incident. Hypna said the damage situation is still being compiled.
No group has yet emerged claiming this blast was their job.
The British Maritime Affairs Organization (UKMTO) has drawn attention to ships passing through nearby areas and said an investigation into the case is underway. He also reported that the Jeddah port was closed indefinitely. Dryad Global, a maritime security risk management company, said that if the attack was the work of the Hooty rebels, “there is a big change in the capacity and scope of the attack.”
Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia last month, an oil tanker explosion occurred due to a mine attack, believed to have been attributed to Yemeni Houthi rebels. Earlier this month, an attack on cargo ships continued in the waters near the eastern Yemeni port city.
After the outbreak of the civil war in Yemen in 2015, the Houthi rebels, supported by the Iranian government, are locked in a war with the Yemeni government supported by the Arab allied forces led by the Saudi government.
Reporter Lee Byung-jun [email protected]
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