Blast on tanker in Saudi port caused by ‘external source’

The BW Rhine 

Credit: EPA

An explosion on a Singapore-flagged oil tanker off the Saudi port city of Jeddah on Monday was caused by an “external source”, the ship’s owner said. 

The BW Rhine was hit while discharging refined oil products at Jeddah about 0400 on Monday local time, Hafnia said in a statement, without giving more information on the cause of the explosion.

The 22 crew were uninjured and able to extinguish a subsequent fire onboard, the tanker company said. 

“It is possible that some oil has escaped from the vessel,” the statement read. “But this has not been confirmed and instrumentation currently indicates that oil levels on board are at the same level as before the incident.”

Saudi authorities did not immediately acknowledge the blast, which followed several other recent incidents in the Red Sea, a vital shipping lane for oil and cargo. 

On November 25, an oil tanker was damaged at the Saudi terminal of Shuqaiq, south of Jeddah, which the Saudis blamed on a naval mine laid by Houthi rebels from Yemen. 

While Houthis have previously laid mines in the Red Sea, Dryad Global, a maritime intelligence firm, said if the Houthis were responsible for Monday’s blast, it “would represent a fundamental shift in both targeting capabilities and intent.”