ruben.maritime

TOYKO 11 January – The Japanese government has called for a full investigation into how a US nuclear-powered submarine managed to hit a VLCC on Monday night in the Strait of Hormuz. The ‘K’ Line tanker Mogamigawa sustained damage to a ballast tank about 70m from its stern, but there were no injuries to seafarers on either vessel. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki was quoted yesterday as saying that the cause of the collision was still under investigation and it was too early to place the blame. Shiozaki said Japan was informed that US Central Command was engaged in operations for maritime security in the area when the incident occurred and that the bow of the USS Newport News had been damaged. Divers inspected the tanker’s ballast tank No.5 while the ship was at Khor Fakkan yesterday and confirmed there was one dent 10m long x 3.5m wide with two holes, about 20cm x 10cm and 40cm x 20cm; another dent 4m long x 2m wide with three holes, about 10cm x 5cm, 10cm x 5cm and 20cm x 10cm; a third dent measuring 10m x 2m. The holes have been plugged and flooding of the ballast tank stopped. ClassNK has recommended that permanent repairs should be carried out by 9 February after cargo has been unloaded. Mogamigawa departed from Khor Fakkan last night and is expected to arrive in Singapore on 20 January. No repair yard has yet been selected.

Etiquetas: Asia, maritime incident

This entry was posted on jueves, enero 11, 2007 at 9:35 p. m.. You can skip to the end and leave a response.