Explosie op olietanker in Straat van Hormuz

[KapiteinRob]

as the 160-tons tanker

Da's een verdraaid klein tankertje........

[Lex]

M.Star returns safely to Tokyo Bay

WAM TOKYO, Aug 24th, 2010 (WAM) -- Japanese oil tanker M.Star, which sustained damages while transiting the Strait of Hormuz earlier in July, returned today to the Tokyo Bay.

The Japanese Ministry of Transport announced that the authorities will soon begin an investigation of the damages, as the 160-tons tanker showed a large hole below the waterline.

Meanwhile, an official at the tanker's operator Mitsui OSK Lines said that taking the possibility that the vessel was exposed to a terrorist attack, the company plans to impose security control though it safely returned to its base.

WAM/AB
Aug 24, 2010 - 09:12

[Lex]

Japanese alert in Strait of Hormuz

Dubai — How safe is the Strait of Hormuz for tankers in transit? The US Navy says all efforts have been made to keep the maritime area safe after last month's purported terror attack on a Japanese ship. Japanese officials, however, are taking nothing for granted and issued an alert for its ships passing through the region on Friday.

"Ships passing through (the Strait of Hormuz) should be sufficiently alert and need to pay attention to moves by small-sized ships, especially during transit in the night," the Japanese transport ministry said in a statement on Friday.

This follows an US advisory earlier this month calling on ships to exercise greater vigilance in the strategic strait.

Dr Christian Koch, Director of International Studies at Dubai's Gulf Research Center, says terror threats in the region's waterways present a real and present danger and must be taken seriously: "Given that Al Qaeda-linked groups have threatened such attacks in the past, the threat must be taken serious and the likelihood of further attacks cannot be ruled out."

A US Navy 5th Fleet says it is taking no chances. "The US Navy and its partners in the region are maintaining a high state of vigilance following last month's purported attack on a Japanese tanker named the M. Star," according to Lieutenant John Fage, the spokesperson of the Fleet based in Bahrain.

The US Navy and the 24-nation Combined Maritime Forces comb the waters constantly and even held sea drills last month.

Khaleej Times Services
21 August 2010

[Lex]

Dat moet dan een aardige lange tanker zijn, want van wat ik begrepen heb, is de straat van Hormoes op z'n nauwste punt nog altijd enige tientallen kilometers breed.......  

De minimale vastgestelde breedte is 29 mijl (+/- 54 km).
Voor het scheepvaartverkeer is er een vastgestelde route zowel inbound als outbound. Deze meet in totaal qua breedte 6 mijl. Inbound/outbound is de breedte 2 mijl met een separatiezone van 2 mijl.

[Enforcer]

Als je de straat van Hormuz wilt barricaderen dan kun je dat "makkelijk" doen door een flinke tanker als rif weg te zetten.

Dat moet dan een aardige lange tanker zijn, want van wat ik begrepen heb, is de straat van Hormoes op z'n nauwste punt nog altijd enige tientallen kilometers breed.......  

Een flinke hoeveelheid olie in de straat kan de zaak verder helpen.

[Lex]

Het roept idd steeds meer vragen op, vooral omdat de omvang van de deuk onder de waterlijn groter schijnt te zijn.

[Elzenga]

Dent found below waterline on tanker in suspected attack in strait

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A large dent has been found below the waterline of a Japanese tanker that was damaged in a suspected attack in the Strait of Hormuz in late July, the transport ministry said Wednesday.

Dus een nog grotere deuk onder water... het wordt zo wel een vaag verhaal...kan men niet beter eerst alles uitzoeken en dan rapporteren? want dit wordt er niet duidelijker op.

[Lex]

Dent found below waterline on tanker in suspected attack in strait

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A large dent has been found below the waterline of a Japanese tanker that was damaged in a suspected attack in the Strait of Hormuz in late July, the transport ministry said Wednesday.

There was also soot radiating outside at the damaged part above the waterline, it said, raising the possibility that something exploded near the surface of the water and slightly apart from the tanker.

The findings were reported to an investigative panel comprised of private-sector and government experts when it met Wednesday for the first time.

The ministry also reported to the panel that after the incident, a crew member heard a loud sound and felt a big shock on the tanker's starboard side, and saw a red object flashing down.

"The fact that such an act, incident occurred is quite serious," Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Seiji Maehara said at the outset of the meeting. "To prevent a recurrence, we must first get to the bottom of this. I want to ask for your cooperation."

The 160,292-ton tanker M. Star, operated by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., 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.

A visible dent found on the tanker's starboard side above the waterline is about 6 meters long and about 11 meters wide, while the newly reported dent below the waterline is about 16 meters long and about 23 meters wide.

The tanker's outer panel is made of steel and slightly less than 2 centimeters thick, so it cannot easily be damaged even if a large whale hits it, according to the ministry.

The tanker's voyage data recorder showed that at the time of the incident, it was moving in a northeasterly direction about 25 kilometers per hour. Radar images, captured every 15 seconds, showed there were three other large ships and three small ships in the vicinity right before the impact.

None of the small ships was identifiable, the ministry said. Two of them were situated 6 and 7 km ahead of the tanker on the right, while the third was increasingly apart from the tanker's left side and rear.

The National Police Agency's National Research Institute of Police Science is checking substances collected from the damaged part of the tanker to see if they were components of an explosive.

In early August, a militant group linked to al-Qaida claimed responsibility for an attack on the Japanese tanker.

(Mainichi Japan) August 19, 2010

[VandeWiel]

Er komen dus steeds meer aanwijzingen en bewijzen voor een aanslag. Zoals hier al eerder door een aantal leden gesteld. Dat roept interessante vragen op...was het inderdaad een terroristische groep of een "test" van Iran of aan Iran gelinkte groep? Waarom dit schip? Toeval of gekozen? Waarom op die plek? Machinekamer treffen? Waarom op dat tijdstip? conflict met Iran provoceren?

En waarom duurde het zo lang voordat deze simpele informatie naar buiten kwam? Wilde men nog niet in gaan op de provocatie en eerst uitzoeken waar deze bootjes vandaan kwamen!?

[KapiteinRob]

Als je de straat van Hormuz wilt barricaderen dan kun je dat "makkelijk" doen door een flinke tanker als rif weg te zetten.

Dat moet dan een aardige lange tanker zijn, want van wat ik begrepen heb, is de straat van Hormoes op z'n nauwste punt nog altijd enige tientallen kilometers breed.......  

[Enforcer]

Als je de straat van Hormuz wilt barricaderen dan kun je dat "makkelijk" doen door een flinke tanker als rif weg te zetten.

Zowel voor terroristen als voor Iran kan dat voordelig zijn, door de problemen met de aanvoer van olie. Zou zo voor een nieuwe economische crisis kunnen zorgen. Voor Iran zou het een mooie test zijn om te kijken of ze de straat passief kunnen blokkeren. Dan lopen ze zelf minder risico's op open zee.

[Lex]

Misschien moet je alle feiten op een rijtje zetten en hier publiceren? 

[Elzenga]

Er komen dus steeds meer aanwijzingen en bewijzen voor een aanslag. Zoals hier al eerder door een aantal leden gesteld. Dat roept interessante vragen op...was het inderdaad een terroristische groep of een "test" van Iran of aan Iran gelinkte groep? Waarom dit schip? Toeval of gekozen? Waarom op die plek? Machinekamer treffen? Waarom op dat tijdstip? conflict met Iran provoceren?

[Lex]

Data retrieved from the tanker's voyage data recorder shows two small vessels changing directions several times and making other suspicious moves, raising the possibility they may have been involved in the purported attack.

Voor een nadere uitleg van de VDR, zie: http://www.imo.org/safety/mainframe.asp?topic_id=768

[Lex]

Tanker radar showed two small vessels before blast

Radar records indicate two small vessels were near a Chiba-bound supertanker when it was damaged in a suspected attack in the Strait of Hormuz in late July, transport ministry sources said Tuesday.

Data retrieved from the tanker's voyage data recorder shows two small vessels changing directions several times and making other suspicious moves, raising the possibility they may have been involved in the purported attack.

The Japan Transport Safety Board and the government-run National Maritime Research Institute are analyzing images in the tanker's data recorder to see whether there is any link to a terrorist attack, the sources said.

The National Police Agency's National Research Institute of Police Science is checking substances collected from the damaged area of the ship to check for traces of an explosive, the sources said.

The 160,292-ton 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 crewman slightly injured.

The radar data shows the small ships sailing parallel to the tanker, passing it and then turning around. At one point, one of the vessels disappears from the radar, a move believed to indicate it had moved to a blind spot, 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, with 31 crew members — 15 Indians and 16 Filipinos — aboard.

The government has set up an investigative panel formed by experts from the transport, foreign and defense ministries as well as the police. Outside experts are also included.

After the ship was damaged, a manager of the UAE's Fujairah port speculated that something collided with it.

A freak wave was also cited as a possible reason for the damage.

A militant group linked to al-Qaida claimed responsibility for an attack on the ship.

The UAE's state-run news agency, WAM, citing a national 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.

The Japan Times: Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2010