UPDATED: Explosion sets Iranian oil tanker ablaze in Red Sea, crew safe
7092 Mins Read
An explosion set an Iranian oil tanker on fire near the Saudi port city of Jeddah, Iran’s Students News Agency (ISNA) reported on Friday, adding experts believed it was a “terrorist attack”.
The blast hit a tanker that belongs to National Iranian Oil Company and set the vessel ablaze 120km off the coast from Jeddah.
Iranian officials said two rockets struck the tanker.
A handout picture made available by Iranian state TV official website (IRIB) reportedly shows Iranian oil tanker Sabiti in Red sea near the Jeddah port in Saudi Arabia, 11 October 2019. Media reported that an explosion damaged an Iranian oil tanker traveling through the Red Sea near Saudi Arabia on Friday. EPA-EFE/IRIB TV HANDOUT
All crew members of an Iranian oil vessel that was on fire in the Red Sea after an explosion are safe and the situation of the tanker is stable, Iran’s Nour news agency reported on Friday.
“None of the crew members were injured at the explosion… the situation is under control,” the news agency, close to Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards Corps, reported.
The explosion caused heavy damage and oil is spilling into the Red Sea, unnamed sources told ISNA.
Lt. Pete Pagano, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet overseeing the Mideast, said authorities there were “aware of reports of this incident,” but declined to comment further.
