Fears tanker blast was bomb attack

AN explosion set a French oil supertanker ablaze off the coast of Yemen yesterday, triggering conflicting explanations of an internal blast and a bomb attack from a small boat.

Yemeni Transport and Marine Affairs Minister Saeed Yafai said one of the ship's tanks had exploded, igniting the fire.

But an official source in Paris said France had strong indications the blast was the result of an attack. French Foreign Ministry spokesman Francois Rivasseau said it was too early to say what had caused the explosion.

The ship's owners, the French firm Euronav, said the explosion had occurred while the Limburg was meeting a pilot vessel to bring it into the port of Mina al-Dabah, near Mukalla in the Gulf of Aden.

Lloyds shipping service said a hole was blown in the tanker's side. All but one of the crew was accounted for.

Reports of a boat approaching the tanker revived memories of an attack in October, 2000 on the US destroyer USS Cole, which was rammed by suicide bombers in a boat packed with explosives in the Yemeni port of Aden. The attack killed 17 US sailors.

Last month, the US Navy warned of possible attacks on oil tankers in Gulf waters by al-Qaida, blamed by Washington for the September 11 attacks on the US. Mr Yafai, whose country has been working to shake off a name as a haven for

Islamic militants, denied the tanker had been attacked.

"The fire on the French ship was caused by explosions in one of its tanks which set off a huge fire," he said in a statement to the official newsagency SABA.

Mr Yafai said all the crew were safe and officials said at least 17 people were in hospital.

The ship's owners said a Bulgarian member of the crew of 25 was still missing.

Mr Rivasseau, spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry, said: "W hile waiting for the inquiry results, any comment on the fire's cause would be premature."

But the French official who declined to be identified said his country had very solid information the blast was a terror attack. A Yemeni official said the authorities were trying to control the blaze. "The fire is still raging and the situation is very difficult," one official in Aden said.