An explosion on a Japanese supertanker last week was most likely a terrorist attack launched at sea, the official WAM agency reported Friday, citing United Arab Emirates sources involved in the investigation.
"UAE explosives experts who collected and examined samples found a dent on the starboard side above the water line and remains of home- made explosives on the hull," a UAE Coast Guard source said, dpa reported
"Probably the tanker had encountered a terrorist attack from a boat loaded with explosives," the source was quoted by the official news agency WAM as saying.
The Brigades of Abdullah Azzam, a militant group linked to the global al-Qaeda terrorist network, claimed responsibility for the explosion on the tanker.
The 160,292-ton M Star, owned by Japan's Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd, left the Port of Fujairah in the early morning after damage from the blast was repaired.
The incident occurred July 28 when the ship was sailing in international waters at the Strait of Hormuz between Oman and Iran. It was carrying crude oil from the port of Das Island in Abu Dhabi to Japan