cryptogon.com

The oil carrier named Takayama was hit at 4:40 a.m. Yemeni time by a “rocket-like weapon”, the Japanese Coast Guard said today in Tokyo. The vessel, which carries a crew of 23 and is able to steer on its own, left the South Korean port of Ulsan on April 4, Nippon Yusen said in a statement on its Web site.

The attack may spur crude oil prices to records, said Hidetoshi Shioda, a senior energy analyst at Mizuho Securities Co. Crude rose above $117 a barrel for the first time in New York after OPEC said it will maintain production, rejecting calls from the U.K. and Japan to boost output.

“Shipping companies may refrain from their operations in the Middle East depending on the seriousness of the attack,” Shioda said in Tokyo. “Any adverse impact on shipping operations could disrupt oil supply to North Asia.”

The tanker was attacked when it was in the Gulf of Aden heading for the port of Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, to load crude oil. The crew found a hole the size of a finger in the fuel tank, which is leaking, the Coast Guard said at a briefing in Tokyo. The crew has not been able to inspect the exterior of the ship.

Crude for May delivery rose as much as 71 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $117.40 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest since futures started in 1983. Oil traded at $117.27 at 9:13 a.m. in London.