Through the North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the government in Pyongyang confirmed on Thursday that it is holding a South Korean fishing vessel seized in the East Sea (Sea of Japan) eleven days ago. KCNA reports the 11-man crew of the Daeseung admitted to violating the North's exclusive economic zone.

South Korean officials say that the North seized a South Korean fishing boat that was operating in the East Sea (Sea of Japan) off the eastern coast of the Korean peninsula on Sunday.

This latest incident between the two Koreas comes as the South conducts a massive anti-submarine exercise in the West ("Yellow") Sea.

Investigators in the United Arab Emirates now say that the Japanese supertanker M Star was in fact the target of a terrorist bombing last week in the Strait of Hormuz the UAE's state-run news agency reported today (8/6).

The M Star suffered damage to its hull while transiting the strategic waterway between Iran and Oman at night on July 27th. As we previously noted, following the incident three theories emerged as to what happened to the vessel - an external explosion, the ship struck something - perhaps a submarine, or a wave created by an earthquake hit the ship.

Earlier this week the al-Qaeda-linked group Brigades of Abdullah Azzam took responsibility for attacking the M Star.

A militant Islamist group has claimed it sent a suicide bomber to attack the Japanese supertanker M Star that mysteriously sustained damage in the Strait of Hormuz last week.

The SITE Intel Group first detected the message from Brigades of Abdullah Azzam on websites used by Islamist extremists.

Initial theories on what happened to the tanker focused on the possibilities of an external attack, the ship struck something, or a rogue wave caused by an earthquake did the damage. The last one was quickly discredited.

The M Star is currently docked in the UAE where officials and the ship's owner, Mitsui OSK Lines, are investigating the cause of the damage.

Something happened to the Japanese oil tanker M Star as it passed through the strategic Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Oman last night. While CNN and others are reporting that the U.S. Fifth Fleet and Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism say there was an explosion onboard, officials in Oman and Iran claim that a wave caused by an earthquake struck the vessel.

A quick scan of USGS-recorded earthquake data shows no sign of an earthquake in the region last night.

If it was an explosion Japanese officials say there is a possibility it was an "outside attack". We'll see. The ship was headed to Fujairah in the UAE for inspection.

A charity headed by the son of Libya's President Muammar Gaddafi is planning to launch a ship carry aid for Gaza despite Israel's continued maritime blockade. The cargo ship Amalthea, which for the trip has been renamed Hope, will leave from the Greek port of Lavrio by Saturday (7/10).

The Yemenei coastguard said Sunday that it is building a base on the island of Miyoun in the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait to protect traffic in the crucial shipping lane that links Europe and Asia reports Reuters.

The crew of Taiwanese Coast Guard vessel stopped an alleged mutiny by Indonesian sailors aboard a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Friday (6/25). Seven crewmembers were arrested, and the captain and chief engineer were rescued.