[ad_1]
SINGAPORE – BW Rhine, a Singapore-registered commercial tanker, was attacked by an “explosives-laden ship,” according to an official spokesman for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy.
It is not yet clear who was behind the attack and there are no other details on the explosives-laden ship at this time.
The ship was anchored in the port of Jeddah, a Saudi port. It was reported to have been damaged in the early hours of Monday, the Foreign Ministry (MFA) said in a statement on Wednesday (December 16).
It suffered hull damage and a small fire, but none of the ship’s 22 crew members, none of them Singaporean, were injured, the MFA said.
The tanker is operated by Hafnia, a Singapore-based tanker company.
On Monday, Hafnia said in a statement about the incident that the tanker was hit while unloading in Jeddah at approximately 12:40 a.m. local time that day.
The crew managed to extinguish the fire with the help of the ground fire brigade and tugs.
“It is possible that some oil has escaped from the ship, but this has not been confirmed and the instrumentation currently indicates that the oil levels on board are at the same level as before the incident,” they added.
The incident comes less than three weeks after an oil tanker was damaged in a possible attack on the Saudi Shuqaiq terminal, south of Jeddah, Bloomberg News reported in an article about the incident on Monday.
While it is not yet clear who is responsible for the attack, the Bloomberg report notes that Yemen’s Houthi rebels have previously used sea mines to attack ships in Saudi Arabian waters. The Houthis, who are supported by Iran, have been fighting the United Nations-backed government of Yemen since 2014. A Saudi-led coalition intervened a year later on the government side.
The Singapore Maritime and Port Authority is investigating the incident with the relevant Saudi authorities.
Singapore condemns all attacks on commercial vessels that pose a serious threat to the safety and security of international maritime navigation and trade, the MFA added.
[ad_2]
