Crude oil tanker damaged in blast near Iraqi port terminal

"The crew reports that a port ballast tank is losing water which suggests some form of hull breach but the ship remains stable and safely afloat."

The vessel was not carrying cargo and there were no reports of pollution, the company added.

The tanker had a contract with Iraq's state oil marketer SOMO and was heading to an Iraqi terminal to load 80,000 tonnes of Iraqi fuel, an Iraqi energy source and a shipping agent said.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Thursday that they had hit a US tanker in the northern part of the Gulf and the vessel was on fire.

(Reporting by Jonathan Saul and Ahmed Rasheed, Editing by Louise Heavens)