(MENAFN) An oil tanker ran into a US Navy ship near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday but the shipping traffic in the waterway was not affected, Reuters reported.
An Omani coastguard official said that both vessels are okay and the Strait of Hormuz was not closed, and business is as usual there.
The Panamanian-flagged, Japanese-owned bulk oil tanker M/V Otowasan collided with the USS Porter, a guided-missile destroyer, according to Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet.
The statement did not give details on how the accident happened, but it affirmed that the navy vessel remained able to operate under its own power after the collision.
The oil tanker, owned by Japan's Mitsui OSK, was heading to the UAE port of Fujairah from Mesaieed in Qatar, according to ship tracking websites.
The accident came amidst rising tensions between Iran and the western powers, as the Islamic Republic threatened to block the strait, through which 40 percent of the world's seaborne oil exports pass, to international shipping in case its dispute with the US over its nuclear programme heats up further.
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