Explosives-laden boat hits fuel ship at Saudi port, ministry says | Reuters
▻https://de.reuters.com/article/saudi-ship-blast-bw-group-int-idUSKBN28O0BJ
Oil tanker BW Rhine is seen in the Straits of Singapore in this handout photo taken in 2018.
Hafnia/Handout via REUTERS TV
Saudi Arabia said on Monday that a fuel transport ship anchored at a Jeddah terminal was hit by an explosive-laden boat in what it called a terrorist attack, after shipping firm Hafnia said one of its tankers was struck by an “external source”.
A Saudi energy ministry spokesman, in a statement carried on state media, did not mention the name of the vessel or identify who was behind the attack.
Hafnia said there was an explosion and a fire while its oil tanker, the BW Rhine, was discharging at Jeddah port. The ship’s crew put out the fire and no-one was injured, it said, adding that parts of the ship’s hull had been damaged.
Al Arabiya TV cited the captain of the BW Rhine as saying that small boats had been spotted ahead of the explosion, and that one of the vessel’s tanks was damaged in the blast.
“BW Rhine has been hit from an external source whilst discharging at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia at approximately 00:40 local time on 14 December 2020, causing an explosion and subsequent fire onboard,” Hafnia said in a statement on its website.