Japanese Tanker was attacked in Gulf according to UAE investigation

[muman613]

Well it seems our first impression was the truth. There was a terrorist attack on a Japanese ship in the Persian Gulf last month. At the time Iran suggested that the ship was hit by a tidal wave or some other nonsense, despite the gaping hole from the explosion...

I suspect Iran was involved..


http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-08-06-oil-tanker-attacked_N.htm

UAE: Japanese oil tanker was attacked

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An explosive-laden dinghy had struck a Japanese oil tanker in the Persian Gulf last month, the Emirati state news agency said Friday, in the first official confirmation that the incident was an attack.

The report came after an obscure al-Qaeda-linked group said Wednesday one of its suicide bombers had hit the tanker to avenge the plunder of Muslim wealth. If true, the claim by the little-known Brigades of Abdullah Azzam would mark the first time the terror network has attacked the Japanese.

Emirates' WAM news agency on Friday quoted an unnamed government official as saying the investigation revealed traces of homemade explosives on the hull of the tanker.

WAM said investigators believe a small boat with explosives had approached the tanker. It said the explosives find "indicates the tanker was subjected to a terror attack."

There have been conflicting reports about what happened to the M. Star supertanker, which was damaged July 28 in the Strait of Hormuz— a transit point for about 40% of tanker-shipped oil worldwide.

A crewmember was injured and the vessel sustained a square-shaped dent on the rear side of the hull during the incident. The Marshall Islands-flagged ship, loaded with 270,000 tons of oil, was heading from the petroleum port of Das Island in the United Arab Emirates to the Japanese port of Chiba outside Tokyo.

In its claim posted on militant websites, the al-Qaeda-linked group carried a photo of the purported bomber pointing to a photograph of a tanker on a laptop. It said the bomber was a "martyr" — meaning he had died in the attack. It also said it had delayed the announcement until several group members who were involved in the operation "returned safely to base."

The WAM report said the vessel left the Emirati port of Fujairah on Friday after damages to the hull were fixed.

The Brigades have in the past claimed responsibility for the August 2005 firing of Katyusha rockets that narrowly missed a U.S. amphibious assault ship docked at Jordan's Aqaba Red Sea resort but killed a Jordanian soldier. It had also claimed the July and October 2004 bombings at Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik and two other resorts that killed a total of 98 people.

al-Qaeda has carried out attacks on oil infrastructure on land in nearby Saudi Arabia, as well as a 2002 suicide bombing against a French oil tanker off the coast of Yemen and the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden.

[muman613]

Here is the report in the WSJ which suggests the ship was hit by a tidal wave..


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703940904575394601540430826.html

A Japanese tanker reported an early-morning explosion in the strategic Strait of Hormuz Wednesday, triggering worry from the ship owner and the Japanese government that the vessel had been attacked in the volatile waterway.

But by midafternoon Wednesday, the likely cause of the explosion appeared to be instead a rogue wave, according to a maritime official in the United Arab Emirates' port of Fujairah, where the damaged ship anchored later for inspection and repairs.

Earlier Wednesday, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., the Japanese owner of the vessel, said the blast may have been an attack, a fear echoed late in the day by the Japanese government. A statement issued by Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said Mitsui O.S.K. suspected an attack.

"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 statement said.

The Strait of Hormuz is a heavily monitored waterway that cuts between Iran and Oman. About a fifth of the world's daily oil supply makes its way through the strait.

Acts of piracy have increasingly become a worry for international shippers in the region, especially along the eastern coast of Africa. Recently, pirates have attacked as far north as offshore Oman in the Arabian Sea. At the same time, Iranian officials have from time to time threatened to disrupt traffic in the strait amid its nuclear standoff with the international community.

An Iranian shipping official said the damage was likely caused as a result of an earthquake—leading to the rogue wave—and rejected the possibility of a terrorist attack, according to Iran's semiofficial Mehr news agency, the Associated Press reported.

[Ulli]

The Muslims are smart people. Bombing an oil tanker in their own waters.

Fishing industry, tourist industry, de-salting-plants as well as the sea salt industry will enjoy from this.