DUBAI: Saudi forces intercepted and destroyed a remote-controlled booby-trapped boat in the Red Sea near the port of Yanbu, Al Arabiya reported on Tuesday.
Saudi naval units spotted the booby-trapped boat this morning and destroyed it, the report said.
Security firm Dryad Global had earlier said it received “unconfirmed reports” that a vessel, possibly the oil tanker NCC Dammam owned by a unit of Saudi firm Bahri, had been attacked off Yanbu.
Chief executive Abdullah Aldubaikhi told Reuters that no vessels owned by National Shipping Company of Ƶ (Bahri) had been attacked.
The Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Yusuf Al-Othaimeen, condemned the attempted attack.
Al-Othaimeen stressed that the OIC condemned all aggression that threatened economic facilities and maritime navigation.
He offered the OIC’s continued support and solidarity with Ƶ in addressing terrorist attacks and all measures taken by the Kingdom to protect its national facilities and commercial operations.
Vessels have previously come under attack in Red Sea waters.
In December, Ƶ said a tanker anchored at the Jeddah port was hit by an explosive-laden boat. This followed a separate incident at another Saudi terminal on the Red Sea where a tanker was damaged by an explosion.
A Ƶn-led military coalition engaged in Yemen has in the past foiled attempted assaults using explosive-laden boats it says are launched by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement.
The Saudi defense ministry said it was investigating who was behind Tuesday’s “hostile attempt.”
Ƶ said it will take strict measures against any hostile attempts to target national capabilities.
(With Reuters and SPA)
