Dubai, United Arab Emirates – An oil tanker in the Saudi port city of Jeddah was attacked on Monday by a small “boobit-trapped boat” loaded with explosives, causing a small fire on the ship, Saudi state TV quoted an official from the state’s energy ministry as saying.
The anonymous official did not name any suspects, but noted the potential environmental consequences of gas or oil, as well as the seriousness of such criminal acts and the threat they posed to maritime traffic, oil export security and freedom of global trade. Leakage
Earlier, a shipping company said the tanker was hit by an “external source” and exploded, indicating that another ship had struck between Saudi Arabia. Years of war in Yemen.
Tommy Chia / Aerial Photographer SG / AP
The attack on Singapore’s flag-waving BW Ryan, carried out by the state’s largest Saudi Arabian Oil Co. trade, is the fourth attack on Saudi energy infrastructure in a month. It apparently closes the port of Jeddah, the most important shipping point for the state.
The attack renews concerns about the safety of ships in the Red Sea, a critical transportation sector for global shipping and energy vacancy supplies that hit the U.S. last year. And largely avoided the chaos of regional tensions associated with Iran.
According to data-analysis company Refinitive, BW Rain entered Jeddah on Saturday with more than 60,000 metric tonnes of unleaded gasoline from an Aramco refinery at Yanbu for use in the state. That’s where the incident seems to have happened.
Hyfna, a tanker company under the BW Group, said it owned and operated the ship.
The strike caused the ship to explode and catch fire in the morning, although at least 22 sailors escaped unharmed and firefighters later extinguished the blaze, Haifna said. Some oil could contaminate the water with the vessel, although the company said it was still assessing the damage.
It took hours for Saudi Arabia to accept the bombing.
The United Kingdom Marine Trade, an organization under Britain’s Royal Navy, urged operations in the area to be vigilant and said an investigation was under way. It later said that the port of Jeddah was closed for an “unknown period” without being expanded.
A maritime intelligence company called Dryad Global also reported the explosion. The 5th Fleet of the US Navy, which patrols the Mediast, did not respond to a request for comment.
The blast came after a mine exploded in Saudi Arabia last month and damaged a ship. Another mysterious attack earlier this month targeted a cargo ship near the small port city of Nishchun in eastern Yemen.
Yemen has Iranian-backed Houthi rebels They have used sea mines before in their long war against the Saudi-led coalition. However, Houthis did not comment on last month’s attack, nor on Monday.
If it were the weapons behind Monday’s explosion, it would “represent a fundamental shift in both target capability and purpose,” Dryed Global said.
Since mid-November, Saudi Arabia has described the cruise missile attack on Jazan as an attempt to attack a bomb-laden drone boat, as well as a cruise missile attack claimed by Houthis, who struck the Armaco oil facility in Jitha. From the description of Monday’s incident, it is possible that a second drone boat was used to attack BW Ryan, a State Department official said Monday.
Xinhua / Tu Yifan / Getty
The incidents come in the wake of tensions between the US and Iran last year, which saw a series of escalating incidents in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman. While the U.S. has put a new connection there to keep an eye on shipping after the incident, it doesn’t work in the Red Sea.
In recent weeks, an attack in Iran killed a leading scientist who founded Tehran’s military nuclear program two decades ago, suspected to have been carried out by Israel.
The attack has pushed up oil prices, which have already been rising in recent days, as Western countries began distributing coronavirus vaccines. Brent crude traded at 50 50 a barrel on Monday.
The Red Sea, with the Suez Canal to the north and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait to the south, is an important shipping lane for both cargo and global energy supply. Its currents change seasonally and now run north. Saudi Arabia recently accused Houthis of laying mines in the South Red Sea, which could lead to Jeddah.
The Red Sea has been mined before. UN investigators of war in Yemen According to the panel, in 1984, as many as 19 ships reported striking mines there, with only one recovered and disarmed, according to UN investigators investigating the war in Yemen. Any new mining puts global shipping at risk and any minesweeping operation can be difficult to detect – increasing the risks and potentially insurance costs for people moving in the area.
“The range of growth in the Red Sea will definitely increase the risk profile of the region,” said Ranjit Raja, head of refinitives for oil and shipping research in the Middle East and North Africa. “In return, insurance premiums for additional protection on ships operating in the region may be increased, which will affect the cost of shipments.”
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