Japanese tanker damaged off Oman, cause unclear

Reuters ^ | Wed Jul 28, 6:41 am ET | by Yoko Nishikawa, Osamu Tsukimori, James Topham, Alejandro Barbojosa and Luke Pachymuthu

[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.

[Pecos]

No hole, no missing paint, just the buckled plating. There is a largish dirty smudge near the waterline that could have been the result of aclose in fuel-air explosion, but the crew in the pilot house would certainly have seen that sort of thing. Theoretically, this type of spontaneous oil-canning can occur, but the internal stiffeners that are in evidence argue against that type of event here.

Maybe a collision with someone with a Romulan cloaking device out for a spin in the Strait?

[bayouranger]

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.

That’s the kind of answer you get from a person with a 7th Century education.

AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

TOOOO FUNNY!!!!

[Candor7]

Yes, and it would happen like that if it were a near miss, with the missile emeterinng the water about 200 feet out from the ship or exploding on the surface a few hundred feet away.

Definitely airborn explosion damage, from the exterior of the ship, a near miss.Note the spyrical natire of the damage to the hull, with no scrapes off the painnt or bare metal. It was an externa; explosion, a mine, a near miss by a missile. Hunch says a mine, set off by magnetic field sensitivity proximity fuse.

[Pan_Yan]

I’m beginning to suspect a tater gun. Someone in the gulf was pumpkin chuckin’.

[Candor7]

Where are the French Fries?

LOL.

[Candor7]

Nope, near miss explosion on the surface of the water. A shaped charge at that.The damage was caused by water propelled violently at the ship fom a near miss, in a shaped charge explosive event, designed to penetrate armor. It was a missile or a mine. Near miss.My guess is that a missileof mine explode a few yards off theow, and the water hit that section of the bow at supersonic velocities , bending in the plates on the ships hull. Not thelack of burningm or any discoloration, no paiint is missinng. That makes it a near miss.

The old battle ships like the USS Missouri and its thick armor plate would not even suffer a minor dent. But a modern thin skinned ship, it was a close thing. They are very lucky.Thank you to the craftsmanship of the Japanese welders who made her, she bent but did ot break. Ice breakers with re-enforced forward hulls often need seasonal repair from the same type of damage from cutting through ice.

This is over pressure damage.

But there are no ice bergs in the Straights of Hormuz!

[Pan_Yan]

Just to clarify it looks to be the port side towards the stern. Not likely that the ship hit something.

[brothers4thID]

Were they docked at the time? That looks like a cave in caused by running into something.

[brothers4thID]

I stand corrected, though, no visible paint scraping, etc.

[SpinnerWebb]

"The boat was hit by a tremor ...we have no information of an attack," an Omani coastguard official told Reuters.

That's the kind of answer you get from a person with a 7th Century education.

They are not talking about an earthquake. This translates to mean they felt a sudden shudder or large vibration aboard the ship.

[SpinnerWebb]

It’s the idiot Reuter’s reporter that took it to mean ‘earthquake’.

[Candor7]

Starboard side near the stern?

Check photo.

[Pan_Yan]

Yes, starboard side. Rectal-cranial inversion.

[M. Espinola]

"Freak wave hits Japanese oil tanker near Oman"

A perfectly square wave?

[OldDeckHand]

What an unusual damage pattern for that part of a ship. I have seen photographs of naval ships damaged in heavy seas, but never astern like that, always on the bow. I would add that the damage incurred in such storms does look remarkably similar. But, as rare as these so-called rogue waves are, they are unheard of in littoral waters like the Strait of Hormuz.

It's a very odd story, indeed.

[LayoutGuru2]

Spot-on. Something not quite close enough and/or powerful enough to punch a hole in the hull (can’t see below the waterline however) sent a high-velocity shockwave of sea water against and quite high up the hull of that tanker.

[hinckley buzzard]

Probably an old 1980's era Iranian mine...unless it was a new 2010's era Iranian mine.