(International Middle East Media Center)
"Close to midnight the ship made its way to port in Israel where its rudders were repaired."
If this is correct, it likely means that the ship was hit square in the butt. It also means that the pics can't be current.
That still leaves questions. A repair inside as in hydraulic steering system {guessing} below helo pad area or an actual rudder hit and almost miss from a low missile?
4 dead squids would account for a hit into the ship from above or a close to ship explosion without full contact. Interesting we still could have a picture of it on post 146. Divers over the side??? Pneumatic fenders and a Jacobs Ladder of sorts I can't tell about the ladder for sure though. And a quick rudder repair to get it home if it was the rudder itself. What I'm saying is the rudder isn't an easy target even if it went in the water before striking it. But it's possible and could account for the thud. The soot? Possibly oil & grease from pumping out a space that was hit.
If fire rumors were true I'd say possibly an above surface explosion with remains of the missle going into the effected area. Not a true direct hit and would leave parts lying around to ID it. It would be interesting to know if it was the rudder underneath or steering system inside actually hit. Either one would be possible under certain conditions and not show much surface damage.