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DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--A blast aboard a Japanese oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic entryway to the oil-rich Persian Gulf, may have been an attack, an official at Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. (9104.TO), which owns the vessel, said Wednesday.

The cause for the explosion was "maybe an attack, not a spontaneous accident, it may be a terrorist attack," Junto Endoh, general manager in the Doha liaison office for Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, told Zawya Dow Jones over the phone from Qatar.

"The vessel is now navigating towards Fujairah by itself," he said, adding that the explosion on the tanker had not been "huge."

The Strait of Hormuz is a heavily monitored waterway that cuts between Iran and Oman. As much as a fifth of the world's daily oil supply makes its way through the strait.