UKMTO reports oil tanker targeted 68 nautical miles northeast of Jubail, Saudi Arabia

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported that an oil tanker was targeted 68 nautical miles northeast of Jubail, in Saudi Arabia. The agency did not release further details about the maritime incident, according to Mehr News.

The report did not identify the vessel, its flag, its owner or the nature of the attack, and no casualty or damage figures were given. The UKMTO coordinates maritime security information for commercial shipping in the region and routinely issues advisories when vessels report suspicious approaches or attacks.

In a separate statement on Saturday, the Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said a massive explosion had occurred on a supertanker after it collided with a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz. According to the IRGC Navy, the supertanker was carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude oil and was attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz via an unauthorized route when it struck the mine. The incident triggered an explosion and a large fire, the statement said.

The IRGC Navy did not say in the statement whether the supertanker it described was the same vessel referred to in the UKMTO report, and no link between the two incidents has been confirmed. The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterway through which a large share of the world's seaborne crude oil passes, and incidents there are closely watched by shipping and energy markets.

No further information was immediately available on the condition of the tanker near Jubail, on the response of regional authorities, or on any investigation. The UKMTO advisory did not attribute the reported targeting to any party.

According to Mehr News, the UKMTO announcement gave no additional details beyond the location of the incident, while the IRGC Navy statement provided its own account of the supertanker explosion in the Strait of Hormuz.