Posted on 07/28/2010 5:11:27 PM PDT by DeaconBenjamin
MUSCAT/TOKYO (Reuters) – A Japanese oil tanker damaged in an explosion in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most important shipping lanes, was being diverted to a port in the UAE on Wednesday.
One of the 31 crew aboard was injured but no oil leaked from the M Star very large crude carrier (VLCC), according to the Japanese transport ministry.
It said an explosion occurred onboard at around 00:30 a.m. local time (2030 GMT Tuesday), but the cause was unclear.
"A crew member saw light on the horizon just before the explosion, so (ship owner Mitsui O.S.K.) believes there is a possibility it was caused by an outside attack," Japan's ministry said in a statement.
Oman's coastguard said there was no evidence of any attack on the tanker and instead cited an earthquake.
"The boat was hit by a tremor ...we have no information of an attack," an Omani coastguard official told Reuters.
The Strait of Hormuz remained open and it was "business as usual," an official from the Omani ministry of transport said.
Al Qaeda has threatened to attack shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a route used by some 40 percent of the world's seaborne oil.
The ship was sailing under its own power toward Fujairah port in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to check the damage, a Mitsui O.S.K. Lines spokesman said.
The tanker bound for Chiba, near Tokyo, was carrying around 2.3 million barrels of Qatar Land and Abu Dhabi Lower Zakum crudes, industry sources said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Nothing wrong with that story. The same earthquake caused my car's water pump to go out.
An earthquake strong enough to damage a tanker in deep water is probably strong enough to destroy all of Oman. It would be registered all over the planet.
Maybe a whale attacked it and got some revenge :P
That sure doesn’t look like an earthquake to me.
A little humor...
Iran rules out terrorist attack on Japanese tanker in Persian Gulf: official
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-07/28/c_13419781.htm
Freak wave hits Japanese oil tanker near Oman
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-10786215
WTF? was that?
Maybe that just got lost in translation...
He probably said :
"The boat was damaged, Bush's fault of course ...we have no information of an attack"
And the translator interpreted damage due to "Bush's fault" as an earthquake or "tremor."
Though I am surprised the Omani coastguard didn't say :
"The boat was hit by a djinn!"
?? Is that the ship in question?
That's it. It looks like it's the only picture released so far and the ship has been in port for over 12 hours now. I think someone wants to keep a tight lid on this one.
It looks like all the damage is above the waterline. I'm not sure how that is possible without it being an airborne projectile.
The reports of an explosion, and later reports from the port that the damage may have been caused by a mine or submarine, lead me to suspect that the photo may not reflect the actual damage incurred, or all the damage incurred.
a dud from a small naval gun (flash on the horizon?)?
I swear it looks like a dud cannon ball bounced off the forward rib at the line between the red and black on the hull. Bring on the 14th century middle eastern culture jokes.
Its a hit and run, either it was a covert mission that certain powers want to be covered up that accidentally hit the tanker or it was an Iranian vessel that tried to possibly suicide ram but failed to detonate properly, I don’t see any explosion debris track at all, looks like it was hit bu a square blunt bow nearly head on at a 90 degree angle.
Not that it’s possible but, NO quakes in the region.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Maps/region/Asia.php
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