Owner of stricken Japanese tanker says ‘flying object’ likely hit ship
Account from CEO of group that owns Kokuka Courageous at odds with US Navy
The owner of stricken chemical tanker Kokuka Courageous has said the crew saw something fly towards their ship, a claim at odds with the US Navy’s suggestion it was attacked with limpet mines.
Yutaka Katada, chief executive of the Japanese shipping company Kokuka Sangyo, told a press conference in Tokyo on Friday: “It seems that something flew towards them. That created the hole, is the report I’ve received.”
“It seems there was a high chance they were attacked by a flying object. The impact was well above the water. I don’t think it was a torpedo.”
The Kokuka Courageous and a second vessel, the Altair, were both in the Gulf of Oman when they were struck by explosions early in the morning on June 13th, local time.
Mr Katada’s comments clash with a release by US Central Command, which said the crew of the Kokuka Courageous “abandoned their ship after discovering a probable unexploded limpet mine on their hull following an initial explosion”.
The US released a video that it says shows an Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessel approaching the Kokuka Courageous to remove the unexploded limpet mine.
To date, nobody has claimed responsibility for the attacks, the crew of the stricken vessels have not spoken directly to the media and there has been no independent forensic examination of the damage to indicate the kind of weapon responsible.
Speaking shortly after the attack on Thursday, Kokuka Sangyo said the explosions were on the port side of the Kokuka Courageous. However, the US images showed damage and a suspected limpet mine on the starboard side of the vessel.