A submarine or a sea mine could have caused damage to a Japanese supertanker as it travelled near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a port official in the UAE emirate of Fujairah said.

'It's possible that it could be a submarine collision, or that it could be a seamine,' Captain Mousa Mourad told a news conference on Thursday.

He said the cause of the damage, under investigation by UAE authorities, was unclear.
The vessel the M. Star was damaged early Wednesday while travelling from the Gulf with a cargo of crude for Japan.

On Wednesday, a Fujairah port general manager had said a freak wave had caused damage to the oil tanker after the Japanese owner Mitsui OSK. Lines reported an explosion and possible attack.-Reuters