Owners believe incident in waters off Oman could have been terrorist attack

A Japanese oil tanker loaded with crude has been damaged in an explosion in the Gulf, and the owners of the vessel blamed a possible terrorist attack for the blast.

The M Star was carrying around 2.3m barrels of crude in waters off Oman when the incident occurred just after midnight. One crew member was injured and the ship was heading for port to assess the damage. No oil leaked, according to Mitsui OSK Lines.

The location of the explosion, near a lifeboat at the rear starboard side of the ship, suggested the blast was unlikely to have been caused by oil on the tanker, Mitsui OSK was quoted as saying by the transport ministry.

"In addition, a crew member saw light on the horizon just before the explosion, so (Mitsui OSK) believes there is a possibility it was caused by an outside attack," the ministry said in a statement.