Some are pointing fingers at Iran, which has threatened to close off the strategic Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for sanctions, for denting a Japanese oil tanker this week. Some 40 percent of the world’s oil shipments pass through the strait.
A sea mine may have been responsible for denting a 160,000-ton Japanese oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz this week, investigators in the United Arab Emirates said Thursday, although the boat’s owner maintains it was likely attacked.