Drumbeats of War - Japanese Oil Tanker Hit in Persian Gulf
A Japanese oil supertanker was hit by something while approaching the Strait of Hormuz, and sustained significant damage, but not enough to create an oil leak.
A lifeboat on the crew’s deck was blown off the vessel. There were fires that were put out without the oil catching fire. Hatches may have been damaged.
Most media report that the cause was a freak wave generated by a 3.4 earthquake around Bandar Abbas on the Iranian shore. Other oil supertanker captains reported feeling the earthquake.
However.
A crew member of the oil tanker told the ship’s owners there was a “flash of light” on the horizon immediately before the ship was hit.
The official Iranian news source, agreeing with Israeli sources for once, is calling the event “an explosion”. They dutifully report that Oman’s coastguard is sticking to the earthquake theory. But interestingly, neither the Iranians nor the Israelis concur with that stance.
My question is, when was the last time an earthquake caused an explosion and fire aboard a ship?
I suppose it’s possible. But I think pretty unlikely.
If you remember the early reports of the sinking of the South Korean warship, the possibility of an attack by North Korea was dismissed out of hand. Later, of course, they were handed full responsibility.
Did we see the opening volley of war in the Strait of Hormuz? Possible. Maybe not. We’ll see.
