A U.S. nuclear-powered submarine has collided with a Japanese oil tanker in the Arabian Sea. No one was injured in the crash and no oil leaks were reported, as Claudia Blume reports from VOA's Asia News Center in Hong Kong.

Kozo Eguchi, left, director of Kawasaki Kisen Ltd., explains about collision to photographers in front of a scale model of Mogamigawa, the company's tanker, in Tokyo, 09 Jan 2007

The collision between the USS Newport News and the Japanese vessel Mogamigawa occurred Monday evening south of the Strait of Hormuz, which lies between Iran and Oman.

Pentagon spokesman Todd Vician says neither ship was seriously damaged.

"No injuries were reported nor was there any damage that affected the navigation or the seaworthiness of either vessel," he said.

A spokesman for the Japanese shipping company said the tanker will check the extent of the damage at a port in the United Arab Emirates.

The Japanese vessel was traveling from the Persian Gulf to Singapore, with eight Japanese and 16 Filipino sailors on board.

The Newport News has a crew of 127.

The cause of the collision is being investigated.

In February 2001, a U.S. submarine accidentally sank a Japanese fishing and high school training vessel off the coast of Hawaii. Nine people were killed. The delay by the submarine captain in apologizing for the incident triggered protests by the victims' families.