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| Japan oil tanker hit by submarine or mine: UAE |
| 2010-07-30 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] A Japanese supertanker, which triggered fears of an attack in the sensitive Strait of Hormuz oil shipping route, collided with something, possibly a submarine or mine, UAE port officials inspecting the ship said on Thursday. Damage to the massive crude carrier's hull suggested a collision, although the nature of the incident was under investigation. "What we know is some collision happened. We don't know what it was," said Captain Mousa Mourad, a general manager at the UAE port of Fujairah. "It's possible that it could be a submarine collision, or that it could be a sea mine," he said, adding the investigation was ongoing. Photographs released by the UAE's WAM news agency also showed a lifeboat missing and smashed windows and doors. The incident took place near the Strait of Hormuz, gateway to the oil-producing Gulf, bordered by Iran and several hundred kilometers north of where Somali pirates have hijacked supertankers over the last two years, including a South Korean tanker bound for the United States in April. No oil leaked from the supertanker and the Strait remains open, with normal traffic flows, port officials said. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd, owner of the world's second largest oil tanker fleet, said on Thursday it had hired a Dubai-based specialist on military attacks to help investigate damage to the 333-metre supertanker laden with oil for Japan. US warships Warships from the U.S. Navy and other nations patrol the region, but were not near the supertanker at the time of the incident early on Wednesday, a spokesman for the U.S. Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain told Reuters. U.S. nuclear submarines have been in two collisions in the busy Strait of Hormuz since 2007, one involving a Japanese supertanker and the other a U.S. warship. Mitsui O.S.K.'s general manager of tanker safety, Masahiko Hibino, said the crew reported hearing an "explosion" but the company could not definitively say there had been an attack on the ship. Nor could it rule out the possibility of an internal explosion. A company spokesman said Mitsui was aware of a Lloyd's List report speculating the damage may have been caused by a grenade attack, but was unable to say whether this was true. Mitsui also refuted suggestions from officials in the UAE, Oman and Iran on Wednesday the ship may have hit a rogue wave. The 31-strong crew, including one man injured in the incident, remain on board and are expected to set course for Japan once inspections and repairs are completed in about a week. The tanker, bound for Chiba, near Tokyo, is carrying around 2.3 million barrels of Qatar Land and Abu Dhabi Lower Zakum crudes, industry sources say. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #10 Whoa, the SOMALI PIRATES doin' a "CHEONAN"??? And once again, YEAR 2010 > proves it is a WORTHY MIGHTY YEAR FOR THINGS TO SUDDENLY BE COMING OUT OF "LEFT FIELD". |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-07-30 23:39 |
| #9 Lots of great ideas guys. What about a submarine masked by the sonar signature of the tanker and in it's orbital shadow? |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2010-07-30 23:35 |
| #8 Bildebergers covering up the methane bubble. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2010-07-30 19:28 |
| #7 I would lean more towards a Chinese sub at this point : the Chinese are trying to do much more power projection, and a Sneaky Pete behind/beneath/beside a tanker is good practice for sneaking up on a CBG for a snap shot. Of course, you have to make sure that you are matching exactly the tanker if you are doing some of the more involved moves or you get smacked. |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2010-07-30 18:35 |
| #6 Wildly disparate causes of an event are less likely to be honest speculation instead of disinformation. Therefore, highest likelihood is a submarine collision. It is alleged that submarines like to tag along with tankers, so as to be less observable, especially in the Gulf. But unless what they were doing was conflict mission critical, the skipper would want to head to a safe port quickly, to assess damage. Being a Japanese ship, all its navigational equipment would be functional, as likely would be a US or other western submarine. So my guess is an Iranian boat. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-07-30 09:57 |
| #5 crap.....Hidden *pimf* |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-07-30 09:50 |
| #4 "OWW! My be-turbanned head!" /Hiddan Imam |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-07-30 09:48 |
| #3 A drug cartel sub care of Chavez? |
| Posted by: 3dc 2010-07-30 08:28 |
| #2 what happened to the earthquake theory? (/sarc) |
| Posted by: abu do you love 2010-07-30 07:35 |
| #1 possibly a submarine or mine, a grenade attack, a rogue wave. They left out "a whale with a bad case of gas". |
| Posted by: Pappy 2010-07-30 07:27 |