Iran Gunboats Attack 2 Scandinavian Tankers in Gulf

Iranian gunboats attacked two Scandinavian tankers in the central Persian Gulf early Saturday, setting both on fire and critically injuring a Norwegian engineer, shipping and salvage executives reported. They said two other seamen were slightly injured.

Rockets hit the 122,445-ton Norwegian-owned Mia Margrethe shortly after midnight Friday and the 273,616-ton Swedish-operated Stena Concordia less than an hour later, said the executives, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The raids apparently were in retaliation for Iraqi attacks on two vessels in Iranian shipping lanes over the past week.

Both sides have attacked foreign shipping during their 6 1/2-year war. The United States said Friday that it will send the battleship Missouri and three escort ships into the gulf next month to reinforce six U.S. warships now on patrol.

Engineer Seriously Burned

The engineer of the 21-member Norwegian crew of the Mia Margrethe was seriously burned, said officials of the ship’s agent, Barbar Shipping of Damman, Saudi Arabia. The victim was not identified.

The officials said a helicopter took him to the Arabian-American Oil Co. hospital 80 miles southwest on the Saudi Arabian mainland, where he was in intensive care, in critical but stable condition.

A number of Iranian gunboats fired three small rockets straight into the engine room, and the engineer was caught in the fire that erupted, the officials said.

The tanker was about 60 miles east of Saudi Arabia and about 120 miles south of Kuwait’s Al Ahmadi oil-loading terminal.

Saudi vessels rushed to aid the Mia Margrethe after its captain radioed a distress signal, and they helped the Norwegians fight a fire that blazed for hours.

Gunboats Hit 2nd Tanker

As the Mia Margrethe burned, Iranian gunboats swept out of the darkness to hit the Stena Concordia about 20 miles to the west, the salvage executives reported.

There were two minor injuries among the Stena Concordia crew, they said.

The attack damaged the ship’s bridge, radio room and steering gear, but the crew canceled a request for help after managing to put out a small fire.

The shipping officials believe that the gunboats darted out from the small Iranian island of Farsi, about 40 miles east of where the Mia Margrethe was attacked.

The Mia Margrethe was partially loaded with 90,000 tons of Kuwaiti crude oil and was bound for Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura terminal to load more oil. The Stena Concordia was en route to Kuwait.

Two Within Hour a First

It was the first time the Iranians have hit two ships within an hour of each other in the “tanker war.” There have been more than 320 attacks by Iran and Iraq on merchant shipping in the gulf since May, 1981, including ships damaged by mines, in which about 200 people have been killed.

The latest Iraqi raids ended a 34-day lull in the tanker war that followed Iraq’s May 17 air strike on the Stark, a U.S. Navy missile frigate.