Saudi coast guard says Iranian tanker sent distress call, then went silent

The Sabiti was hit by two missiles off the coast of Jeddah, according to Iranian reports

epa07912416 A handout picture made available by Iranian state TV official website (IRIB) reportedly shows Iranian oil tanker Sabiti in Red sea near the Jaddah 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/IRIB TV HANDOUT  HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES
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Saudi Arabia’s coast guard said it received a distress call from an Iranian oil tanker that reportedly came under attack in the Red Sea near Jeddah on Friday, but the vessel had switched off its tracking system when a response was made to its request for assistance.

The distress call was sent by email and stated that the front of the tanker, the Sabiti, had suffered damage and there was an oil leak, the Saudi Press Agency quoted a coast guard spokesman as saying.

Communications were analysed in order to provide help, but the vessel continued moving further away from Jeddah Islamic Port, the spokesman said. The tanker switched off its automatic tracking system without responding to the Saudi calls to assist, he said.

According to ship-monitoring websites, the Sabiti had switched on its tracking system for the first time since August after Iranian media began reporting the ship had been hit by missiles.

The tanker is moving toward Iran at maximum speed and will reach the Bab Al Mandeb strait in less than 24 hours, the Iranian Oil Ministry's Shana news service reported, citing Nasrollah Sardashti, head of the National Iranian Tanker Company. Sabiti will enter Iranian waters in 10 days, Mr Sardashti said.

Leakage of cargo from the tanker has been stopped as it heads for the Gulf, the semi-official Iranian news agency Mehr reported.

An Iranian government spokesman said Iran would respond to incident after the facts had been studied.

"Iran is avoiding haste, carefully examining what has happened and probing facts," spokesman Ali Rabei was quoted as saying by the official news agency IRNA on Saturday.

"An appropriate response will be given to the designers of this cowardly attack, but we will wait until all aspects of the plot are clarified," he said.

A senior security official said video evidence had provided leads about the incident, the semi-official news agency Fars reported.

"Piracy and mischief on international waterways aimed at making commercial shipping insecure will not go unanswered," said Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's top security body.

The incident, yet to be independently confirmed, is the latest involving oil tankers in the Red Sea and Gulf region since May, and may ratchet up tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia, long-time regional adversaries fighting a proxy war in Yemen, which lies at the southern end of the Red Sea.

The United States, embroiled in a dispute with Iran over its nuclear plans, has blamed Iran for attacks on tankers in the Gulf in May and June as well as for strikes on Saudi oil sites in September. Tehran has denied having a role in any of them.