An explosion struck a tanker off the Saudi port city of Jeddah, maritime sources said yesterday, without elaborating on the cause.

Saudi authorities did not immediately confirm the blast, which the United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations (UKMTO) said occurred on Sunday off Jeddah, a key Red Sea port and distribution centre for oil giant Saudi Aramco.

The incident comes after an explosion last month rocked a Greek-operated oil tanker docked at Saudi Arabia's southern port of Shuqaiq, an attack that a Riyadh-led military coalition blamed on Yemen's Huthi rebels. Dryad Global, a London-based maritime intelligence firm, also reported Sunday's explosion, saying it struck a vessel while "carrying out operations within the main tanker anchorage at the Saudi Aramco Jeddah port". The affected vessel may be the Dominican-flagged tanker Desert Rose or the Saudi-flagged Al Amal Al Saudi, it added.