Mitsui OSK hires military specialist for tanker check

[Fred Vloo]

Japanese Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd said on Thursday it has hired a military attack specialist to help it investigate the cause of damage to a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.
The supertanker was diverted to a UAE port on Wednesday where officials said the damage, which stirred fears of an attack in the straight, was caused by a freak wave.
But a Mitsui O.S.K. company official said at a news briefing in Tokyo that the damage was unlikely to have been caused by an earthquake-related wave. It will begin a full-fledged investigation on Thursday.
Japan's Transport Ministry said on Wednesday there was an "explosion" at around 00:30 a.m. local time and cited the possibility of an attack on the ship, but port officials said there was no evidence.
No oil leaked from the very large crude carrier, named M. Star, although some members of the 31-strong crew were injured.
Forty percent of the world's seaborne oil passes through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, gateway to the oil-producing Gulf, where Al Qaeda has threatened to attack shipping.
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 have said.

[Max89]

Hi @ all,



Find the whole story at:
http://www.ufs.ph/2009-10/index.php

regards

[Mats]

The wave theory is completely implausable for several reasons, including the fact that the glass from the broken windows seems to be scattered just inside the blown-in window frame (see one of the pictures released today). Had the windows been knocked out by a wave, the water would have washed away the glass.

Also, the lack of scrape / paint as well as the many indentations around the big dent show it was no collision.

Thus, it must have been a blast. Judging from the damage to the ULCC "Bridgetown" and others during the Iran / Iraq war, a "normal" mine would have breached the hull and made far more damage. Also, the blast damage seems to be above water only, and starting at the waterline. This is not likely if a mine was involved (cf. again "Bridgeton") and it all thus points to a "Limburg" style blast but smaller, I guess?