An explosion set a French oil supertanker ablaze off the coast of Yemen Sunday, 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 that 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 had been blown in the side of the tanker. All but one of the crew were accounted for.

Reports of a boat approaching the tanker revived memories of an attack in October, 2000 on the U.S. 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 U.S. sailors.

Last month, the U.S. navy warned of possible attacks on oil tankers in Gulf waters by the al Qaeda network, blamed by Washington for the September 11 attacks on the United States.

But the U.S. Navy in the region said it had no plans to step up patrols as a result of the incident.

TANK EXPLOSION

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 news agency SABA.

Yafai said all the crew had been rescued and officials said least 17 people were in hospital. The ship's owners said one Bulgarian member of the crew of 25 was still missing.

Rivasseau, the French Foreign Ministry spokesman, said: "At this point, while waiting for the results of this inquiry, any comment on the cause of this fire would be premature."

But the French official who declined to be identified said his country had "very serious sign, solid information" that the blast was a terror attack.

The French Vice Consul in Yemen did not rule out that a boat laden with explosives might have rammed the two-year-old tanker.

The French military attache in Yemen, identified as Colonel Vial, told France's LCI television the blast had occurred at the same time as a small boat approached the tanker, but added: "Other sources tell us it was an accidental explosion."

He said there had been eight French and 17 Bulgarian crew.

A Western military source familiar with the area said he did not believe there had been an attack.

"As far as we can tell, this does not appear to be terrorist-related. It is not unheard-of for such explosions to take place on tankers," the source said.

OIL SPILL

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.

Oil industry sources said the 157,833-tonLimburg had been carrying 397,000 barrels of crude and that it had been coming into Aden from Iran to load more oil. A large amount of crude has already leaked into the sea, one source added.

Industry sources said the tanker had been chartered by the Malaysian state oil company Petronas.

U.S. Naval spokesman Lieutenant Chris Davis told Reuters that the Fifth Fleet, which covers the region and is based in Bahrain, was not planning to step up patrols. "The U.S. Navy will continue with its state of readiness," he said.

There has been a heavy U.S. Naval presence in the strategic waterways of the oil-rich Gulf since the September 11 attacks.
Washington blames the attack on the Cole on al Qaeda, led by the Saudi-born Osama bin Laden .

Since then, Yemen has arrested more than 100 suspected members of al Qaeda and other Islamist groups.

The Arab state is bin Laden's ancestral home, and many Yemenis have been arrested abroad as suspected al Qaeda members.

In January, Yemen launched the only military campaign against al Qaeda outside Afghanistan , where a U.S.-led strike ousted the Taliban government that had sheltered bin Laden.

PHOTO CAPTION

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