Radar records indicate two small vessels were near a Chiba-bound supertanker when it was damaged in a suspected attack in the Strait of Hormuz in late July, transport ministry sources said Tuesday.
Data retrieved from the tanker's voyage data recorder shows two small vessels changing directions several times and making other suspicious moves, raising the possibility they may have been involved in the purported attack.
The Japan Transport Safety Board and the government-run National Maritime Research Institute are analyzing images in the tanker's data recorder to see whether there is any link to a terrorist attack, the sources said.