Oil tanker damage confirmed / Mitsui believes ship was attacked; MSDF, Washington, JCG disagree

The Yomiuri Shimbun

A Japanese tanker that was damaged Wednesday in an explosion while sailing in Oman waters off the Strait of Hormuz suffered a large, square-shaped dent on the rear starboard side of its hull, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. said Thursday.

Mitsui maintains the explosion was "caused by an external attack," potentially by rocket missile, because a crewman reported seeing a flash on the horizon just before the explosion.

However, Washington said Wednesday there was no information suggesting this to be true.

The shipping firm said the 333-meter, 160,000-ton ship diverted to Fujairah Port in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday evening after the accident occurred and was scheduled to remain for further inspections.

Mitsui plans to dispatch technical experts to Fujairah Port and conduct investigations to see whether the ship can return to Chiba Port unaided.

The company said the explosion occurred on the ship's deck. One crewman was slightly injured when doors and windows from crew quarters were destroyed. The blast also caused a rescue boat to fall overboard.

According to a high-ranking Maritime Self-Defense Force firearms expert, even small firearms such as a rocket-propelled grenades, would be capable of damaging the tanker's hull.

But he said that the ship's dent looked more like it was the result of a crash, even suggesting that the rescue boat on the deck may have dented the hull when it fell overboard.

A Japan Coast Guard official said chances were very low that another ship had collided with the tanker because the dent was higher than the waterline.

With almost no reports of piracy around the strait, a local media outlet reported that high waves damaged the tanker. Mitsui has refuted this claim, saying waves do not cause explosions.

The crude carrier M. Star was loaded with about 270,000 tons of oil at the time of the blast but no leakage has been reported.