Japanese tanker not attacked says UAE
Posted on 29 July 2010 with 2 comments from readers
The Japanese oil tanker M Star involved in an incident off the United Arab Emirates yesterday has been moved to the holding area for vessels near to the port of Fujairah, reported the official UAE news agency Wam.
Officials told the agency: ‘There is no proof that the tanker was attacked and no marks on the external parts of the ship to indicate an explosion’.
Substantial damage
But the photograph also released by Wam clearly indicates substantial damage. Early reports said the Japanese registered tanker had been hit by a blast in the Strait of Hormuz or struck by a freak wave.
The authorities are now carrying out an investigation to determine the true cause of the incident, said Wam. The initial reaction was that the vessel had been hit by ‘high wave caused by a tremor’.
That was contrary to the opinion expressed by Japan’s transport ministry that said: ‘Since one of the crew saw a flash on the horizon immediately before the blast, the company suspects it was highly likely an attack’.
The vessel was crewed by 16 Filipinos and 15 Indians and loaded with 270,000 tonnes of crude oil but no oil was spilt. It was bound for Chiba, near Tokyo. One crew member was slightly injured.
Eiko Mizuno, a Mitsui spokeswoman in Tokyo, told AFP: ‘The crew member was not seriously injured. His arm was cut by shattered glass.
‘The damage did not spark a fire of the oil inside the tanker. Further details have yet to become available as a full investigation will be launched once the tanker gets to the port.’
Sitting ducks
Oil tankers going through the Strait of Hormuz have always been considered a likely flash point in tensions with Iran. But there has been no statement from Iran about the incident.
It could, of course, have been an accident. The whole area is bristling with weaponry and an accidental firing is perfectly possible from either side. It would not be the first time that the US had accidentally attacked its allies.
In the meantime, this incident just serves as a reminder of the tensions building in the Persian Gulf this summer, albeit with temperatures approaching 50C nobody is moving about very much.
2 Comments posted by readers:
Some investigation might conclude that it was a wave, but no wave did that. The damage area is too small. A freak wave would have smashed in a larger area. And I doubt such waves are found in the Strait.
It would take a rather large explosion to dent the thick steel side of that large tanker in that far. It looks like some missile, flying parallel to the ship, exploded as it neared the hull using a proximity fuse. You would think that a sea skimming missile would have blown a hole where it hit, but the warhead may not be designed to be used against such thick hulls. Except for aircraft carriers, modern warships are tin foil thin vessels, easily disabled, and often sunk, by any missile hit. It may have been a test to see what someone’s new missile could do. Maybe someone wants the price of oil to go up, or wants to appear to be a victim of unjustified retaliation.
Maybe some country is having an internal power struggle between the right, and the far right, between the old revolutionaries and the new, younger, more radical and dangerous ones, and hopes to get a few bombs dropped on them for national unity.
Another possibility is a collision. But since the damage is all above the waterline, that doesn’t seem to fit. Maybe it was the same whale that trashed the sailboat.
An old mine from the Iran-Iraq War appears the most likely explanation.