Persian Gulf Tanker Blast May Have Been Attack Mitsui

DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--A blast aboard a Japanese oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic entryway to the oil-rich Persian Gulf, may have been an attack, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. (9104.TO), which owns the vessel, said Wednesday.

The cause of the explosion was "maybe an attack, not a spontaneous accident, it may be a terrorist attack," Junto Endoh, general manager in the Doha liaison office for Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, told Zawya Dow Jones over the phone from Qatar.

The company said in a separate statement in response to the blast that the tanker had been damaged by what the company believed to have been an attack from outside the ship.

"The vessel is now navigating towards Fujairah by itself," Endoh said, adding that the explosion on the tanker had not been "huge."

The Strait of Hormuz is a heavily monitored waterway that cuts between Iran and Oman. As much as a fifth of the world's daily oil supply makes its way through the strait from major oil producing countries including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

Nymex crude oil futures for September delivery were last up 15 cents at $77.65 a barrel Wednesday.

Oil prices have risen in the past over fears that Iran could block exports from the region through Hormuz if tensions with the U.S. over the Islamic republic's controversial nuclear program escalate.

"It is unlikely to be a sovereign attack from Iran as Iran would only risk this confrontation if it was attacked. It is more likely to be a terrorist attack," said Mustafa Alani, director of security at the Dubai-based Gulf Research Centre.

"The location is easy to attack for terrorists as 17 million barrels of oil are transported by tanker through the Strait of Hormuz each day. It's an easy target geographically as it's a narrow waterway and the navigation route is well known," Alani added.

A spokesman for the U.S. Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain and responsible for American forces in the Gulf, said it was trying to get information from the Japanese ship about what happened. The spokesman said it would release more information when it received it.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines said in its statement that one of the crew members on board the 160,292 ton tanker, M. Star, was slightly injured when a blast hit the ship around 2030 GMT Tuesday. There is no oil leak, the company added.

The M. Star carrying 270,204 metric tons of crude oil was bound for Japan, but it is now headed for Fujairah, United Arab Emirates for inspection, the company said.

-By Tahani Karrar-Lewsley, Dow Jones Newswires; +9714 446-1692; Tahani.Karrar@dowjones.com

Copyright (c) 2010 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

(Kazuhiro Shimamura in Tokyo contributed to this report.)