Japan Foreign Ministry condemns attack on tanker

Japanese Foreign Ministry press secretary Takeshi Osuga has condemned Thursday’s attacks on a Japanese-operated tanker near the Strait of Hormuz, calling it a threat to Japan’s peace and prosperity.

Osuga , in a statement Friday, didn’t identify a suspected attacker and pledged to continue gathering information and secure the safety of maritime navigation. He says: “Japan firmly condemns such attacks which threaten the safety of ships.”

Osuga said safety in the Strait of Hormuz is crucial to Japan’s energy security as well as to the peace and prosperity of the international community, including Japan.

A Japanese-operated tanker was targeted in a suspected attack Thursday near the Strait of Hormuz. The tanker company said some crewmembers saw “flying objects,” possibly bullets, damage the tanker, not mines. All 21 Filipino sailors on the tanker were rescued.

The Norwegian owner of an oil tanker that caught fire after a suspected attack in the Gulf of Oman says the blaze has been extinguished.

Frontline says the fire was put out on the Front Altair and did not cause any pollution.

The company added that its 23 crew members are still In Iran at Bandar Abbas, though they’ll be repatriated soon.

Frontline CEO Robert Hvide Macleod separately says the company still doesn’t know the cause of the explosion and the fire “but we can exclude that a fault with the ship that has caused this.”