The Saudi Amzan ship was attacked in the Red Sea on Monday, Saudi Arabia’s national shipping company Bahri confirmed in a statement, noting that all crew members were safe and no injuries had been reported.
The confirmation comes following claims by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis earlier on Monday that they attacked a vessel off Saudi Arabia’s port city of Yanbu, in comments by the group’s military spokesperson Yahya Saree in a televised speech.
Earlier in the day, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said a tanker was struck by an unknown projectile 63 nautical miles west of Yanbu.
The UKMTO said all crew were safe and accounted for with no reported environmental impact.
Yanbu is Saudi Arabia’s main Red Sea oil port, where millions of barrels a day are loaded, and has become the main route for Saudi oil skirting the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has blockaded.
Red Sea blockade declared by Houthis against Saudi ships
Shipping from Yanbu has itself faced disruption since the Houthis declared a blockade on Saudi-linked vessels in the Red Sea last month.
The Houthis have carried out attacks on Saudi oil facilities and shipping in the Red Sea in recent weeks, and they claimed to have targeted Saudi oil giant Aramco facilities in Yanbu in July.
