Gulf of Hormuz: Japanese Tanker Damaged
July 28th, 2010Update: Cause Still Unknown
Via: BBC:
An investigation has been launched into the unexplained damage suffered by a Japanese oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz near Oman.
The M Star was damaged on Wednesday while travelling from Qatar to Japan.
Port officials in Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates say the ship was involved in a collision. However, the boat’s owners Mitsui OSK believe their vessel may have been attacked.
Early reports that the ship was struck by a freak wave have been dismissed.
Map
The M Star is currently docked in Fujairah where local officials are inspecting the damage to its hull and its interior, with the help of the British and US navies.
The incident has stirred fears of a terrorist attack in the Strait, the route for 40% of the world’s seaborne oil.
‘Submarine collision’
“What we know is some collision happened. We don’t know what it was,” said Capt Mousa Mourad, a port official in Fujairah.
“It’s possible that it could be a submarine collision, or that it could be a sea mine,” he said.
But Mitsui OSK maintained on Thursday that its oil tanker was probably attacked.
Crew members reported seeing a flash and hearing an explosion during the incident shortly after midnight local time on Wednesday.
“There are some reports saying the tanker was hit by strong waves, but it’s quite unlikely,” said Masahiko Hibino, Mitsui OSK safety management official.
“We have not reached a conclusion, but we still suspect the tanker was hit by a blast.”
At a press conference in Tokyo, Mr Hibino displayed images of the tanker which showed damage to the railings, the loss of a life vessel, a shattered window, and broken furniture and fittings and shattered glass inside a dry cabin.
Pictures of the outside of the vessel, published separately, show an indentation several metres across in the hull, but no obvious burn marks or signs of an explosion.
—End Update—
Take your pick on an explanation at this point.
Monitoring…
Via: Bloomberg:
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., operator of the world’s second-largest oil-tanker fleet, said one of its ships may have been attacked near the Strait of Hormuz, deemed by the U.S. to be the most important chokepoint for oil supply.
An explosion, which “may have been caused by an external attack,” occurred at 5:30 a.m. Tokyo time, injuring one of the crew, Mitsui said in a statement. The vessel, M. Star, was on its way to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates to assess the damage and no oil is leaking, Mitsui said. The tanker was damaged by rough seas, the official U.A.E. news agency WAM reported, citing Musa Murad, director of the Port of Fujairah.
Earthquake ^^
Oman’s coastguard […] cited an earthquake.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/07/28/world/international-uk-japan-explosion-usnavy.html
Oman’s coastguard has rejected the claim, saying there was no evidence of any attack on the tanker and instead cited a 3.2 magnitude earthquake in the Iranian port-city of Bandar Abbas as the source of a freak wave that hit the ship.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=136542§ionid=351020205
And the coincidences keep piling up….