Japans Mitsui maintains oil tanker was likely attacked

7/29/2010 09:20:03 AM

TOKYO – A Japanese shipping company maintained Thursday that one of its oil tankers was likely attacked in the Strait of Hormuz a day earlier, dismissing reports it might have been hit by a freak wave.

Mitsui OSK Lines officials reiterated that crew members saw a flash and heard an explosion in the incident shortly after midnight local time on Wednesday in the waterway between Iran and Oman.

"There are some reports saying the tanker was hit by strong waves, but it's quite unlikely," Mitsui safety management executive Masahiko Hibino told journalists.

"We have not reached a conclusion, but we still suspect" the tanker was hit by a blast, Hibino said of the mysterious incident some 18 kilometres off the coast of Oman, in which one crewman was slightly injured.

The Japan-bound vessel -- crewed by 16 Filipinos and 15 Indians -- was carrying 270,000 tonnes of crude oil but did not suffer a spill.

One of the crew saw a flash on the horizon, while several other sailors heard an explosion, Hibino said, adding that the weather was fine and there were no reports of high waves in the region.

Hibino displayed images of the tanker, the M. Star, 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 earlier by the state-run UAE news agency WAM -- showed an indentation several metres across in the hull, but no obvious burn marks or signs of an explosion.

The ship arrived under its own steam in United Arab Emirates for repairs late on Wednesday.

Investigations there began early on Thursday, involving officers from the US Navy and Britain's Maritime Trade Operations, Mitsui said.

Fujairah port director Captain Mussa Murad did not rule out the possibility of an attack, but said the investigation was continuing.

"In a maritime accident, everything is possible," he told AFP when asked about the possibility of a submarine attack or hitting a mine.

"The cause remains unknown and the investigation is still going on," he said.

The UAE foreign ministry said "investigations by relevant authorities to determine the causes of the accident are still underway," WAM reported.

The tanker's skipper, Captain M Mathew, said "the vessel is totally mobile and moving under her own power without any assistance," in a letter carried by WAM.

"The letter also said there is no underwater" crack in the tanker's hull and only one crack was noted in the 60 centimetres thick "double skin area" above the water, WAM reported.

The captain added that the tanker "is completely stable" and "could proceed safely" to its destination.

The Strait of Hormuz, less than 100 kilometres wide at its widest point, separates Oman from Iran and is the gateway into the oil-rich Gulf.

Japan, the world's second biggest economy, sources some 90 percent of its oil from the Middle East, much of it from the Gulf.