2 small ships detected near Japan tanker damaged in Strait of Hormuz+

TOKYO, Aug. 17 Kyodo -
Japanese authorities have found radar data showing two small unidentified ships
near the Japanese tanker that was damaged in a suspected attack in the Strait
of Hormuz in late July, transport ministry sources said Tuesday.
The data retrieved from the tanker's voyage data recorder showed two small
ships changing directions many times and making other suspicious moves, raising
the possibility that they may have been involved in the purported attack.
The Japan Transport Safety Board, a body under the Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and the state-run National Maritime
Research Institute are currently analyzing the images left in the tanker's data
recorder, the sources said.
The National Police Agency's National Research Institute of Police Science is
also checking substances collected from the damaged part of the tanker to see
if they were components of an explosive.
The 160,292-ton tanker M. Star was damaged in a suspected explosion while
sailing in Omani waters in the western part of the Strait of Hormuz on July 28,
leaving one person slightly injured.
The radar data showed the small ships sailing parallel to the tanker, passing
it and then turning around. They also showed that at some point, one of the
ships disappeared from the radar, a move believed to indicate that it had moved
to its blind spot around the tanker, according to the sources.
Operated by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., the tanker was on its way to Japan
carrying crude oil from Das Island in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates. A
total of 31 crew members -- 15 Indians and 16 Filipinos -- were aboard the
ship.
The Japanese government has set up an investigative panel formed by experts
from the transport, foreign affairs and defense ministries as well as the
police. Outside experts are also included in the panel. The panel's first
meeting is expected to be held on Wednesday.
After the ship was damaged, a manager of the UAE's Fujairah port said something
collided with the tanker.
In early August, a militant group linked to al-Qaida claimed responsibility for
an attack on the Japanese tanker.
Later, the UAE's state-run news agency WAM, citing a UAE coast guard source,
reported that local explosives experts ''found a dent on the starboard side
above the waterline and remains of homemade explosives on the hull.''
''Probably the tanker had encountered a terrorist attack from a boat loaded
with explosives,'' the source was quoted as saying in the report.
==Kyodo
2010-08-17 23:57:47


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