World News – CA – ‘External source’ causes oil tanker to explode off Saudi Arabia

The Associated Press
Employee

This October. 11, 2019, file photo, seagulls fly in front of the port city of Jiddah on the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia. An explosion rocked a ship in front of the Saudi Arabian port city of Jiddah on the Red Sea, the authorities said on Monday, December. 14, 2020 without going into detail. (AP Photo / Amr Nabil, file)

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES –
A shipping company says an explosion on a tanker outside the port of Jiddah in Saudi Arabia was due to the ship being « hit by an outside source. ». « 

An explosion shook a ship in front of the Saudi Arabian port city of Jiddah on the Red Sea, the authorities announced on Monday without going into detail.

The kingdom did not immediately acknowledge the explosion that set off a major port and distribution center for its oil trading.

Initial reports also offered no reason for the explosion, although it came after a mine attack last month that damaged a tanker off Saudi Arabia that authorities had accused the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations, an organization of the British Royal Navy, said the explosion happened on Sunday without elaborating on it. It urged ships in the area to exercise caution and said the investigation was still ongoing.

The state media in Saudi Arabia did not acknowledge the explosion. The U. S.. . The 5th. The Navy’s fleet patrolling the Middle East did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The coordinates offered by the UKMTO brought the explosion southwest of the port near the anchorage for ships in the region. According to the ship tracking website MarineTraffic, at least two oil tankers were known to have been in the area. com – the desert rose and Al Amal Al Saudi or the hope of Saudi. The owners of the ships could not be reached immediately.

The apparent explosion comes after a mine exploded and damaged a ship off Saudi Arabia last month. Another mysterious attack was targeted at a cargo ship off the small port town of Nishtun in Yemen’s Far East earlier this month.

Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have already used sea mines in their long war against a coalition led by Saudi Arabia. However, the Houthis have not commented on last month’s attack.

Dryad Global said if it were the Houthis behind Sunday’s blast it would « represent a fundamental shift in both aiming skills and intent. « 

The Red Sea is an important shipping route for both cargo and global energy supplies. Therefore, any mining of the area is a danger not only for Saudi Arabia but also for the rest of the world. Mines can get into the water and then get carried away by currents, which change with the season in the Red Sea.

The Red Sea was previously dismantled. In 1984, 19 ships reported striking mines there, only one of which was ever recovered and disarmed. . N. . Panel said.

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Saudi Arabia, oil tankers, Jeddah, petroleum