Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (CNN) -- An explosion occurred Wednesday aboard a Japanese oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz near Oman, according to the U.S. Fifth Fleet and Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
The Japanese ministry said one person was injured aboard the vessel M. Star, but the U.S. Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, said in a statement that no injuries were reported by the ship's master.
The tanker's owner and operator, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., said the explosion could have resulted from an attack, as a crew member saw light above the horizon, the ministry said in a statement. However, the Fifth Fleet said the cause of the blast was unknown. Because of its location, the Japanese ministry statement said, the explosion was unlikely to have been caused by oil on the tanker.
However, Capt. Musa Murad, director of the Port of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, told the state-run Emirates News Agency that the tanker was passing through the strait when it was exposed to a high wave as a result of an earthquake shock.
A search of the U.S. Geological Survey's global earthquake database shows the last earthquake to strike the region was a 4.8-magnitude temblor near the coast of southern Iran on Saturday.
CNN
