Saudi oil tankers come under attack near UAE

Two Saudi oil tankers were targeted in a sabotage attack off the coast of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih said on Monday.
The energy minister said in a statement on Monday that the attack did not lead to any casualties or an oil spill but caused significant damage to the structures of the two ships.
The announcement came a day after the UAE confirmed that four commercial ships had been targeted by what it called acts of sabotage off Fujairah.
Falih said one of the two tankers had been on its way to be loaded with crude oil from Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura oil terminal in the Persian Gulf for customers in the United States.
The attack, he said, aimed to “threaten the freedom of maritime navigation and the security of oil supplies to consumers around the world.”
The international community has joint responsibility to maintain the safety of maritime navigation and the security of oil tankers, Falih added.
The cause of the explosions has not been ascertained and there has been no claim of responsibility, but speculations range from drone or missile attacks from Yemen, to possible dropping of bombs by US forces to ignite tensions in the region.
Iran on Monday voiced concern about “adventurism by foreign players” to disrupt maritime navigation in the Persian Gulf region, describing the incident as “lamentable” and “worrying” and calling for thorough investigations.
Fujairah port is the only terminal in the UAE located on the Arabian Sea coast. The small emirate has an oil terminal and a pipeline that delivers crude oil from Abu Dhabi which sits on the majority of UAE oil reserves.