An oil tanker off the Saudi port city of Jeddah suffered an explosion after being hit by an "external source," shipping company BW Rhine said, suggesting another vessel was attacked off the kingdom's coast amid its years-long war in Yemen, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
All 22 sailors on the Singapore-flagged tanker escaped unharmed, BW Rhine said in a statement. However, the company warned that there may be an oil leak at the scene of the incident.
Saudi Arabia did not immediately acknowledge the explosion, which damaged the port's infrastructure, including its distribution center for oil trade, as it did after a mine attack last month damaged a tanker off the coast of the Kingdom, in which the authorities of the largest Arab monarchy blamed the Yemeni rebel movement Ansar Allah ("Helpers of Allah", Houthis).
United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations, an organization of the British Royal Navy, urged ships in the area to exercise caution, and said that the investigation of the mine attack is ongoing, according to Eadaily.