Yutaka Katada, president of shipping company Kokuka Sangyo Ltd. points to a picture of their tanker Kokuka Courageous, one of two that were hit in suspected attacks in the Gulf of Oman, during a news conference in Tokyo, Japan June 14, 2019.

WASHINGTON — The Japanese owner of one of the oil tankers attacked near Iran on Thursday said the vessel was struck by a projectile and not by a mine, which is what U.S. officials assessed as the source of the blast.

"We received reports that something flew towards the ship," Yutaka Katada, president of Kokuka Sangyo, said at a press conference Friday. "I do not think there was a time bomb or an object attached to the side of the ship," he said, adding that a projectile landed above the waterline.

On Thursday, U.S. Central Command said in a statement that the Japanese oil tanker, Kokuka Courageous, had an "unexploded limpet mine on their hull following an initial explosion."

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.