Bridgeton Is Latest of Five Gulf Tankers to Hit a Mine

Besides the Bridgeton, damaged by an explosion in the Persian Gulf on Friday, four other tankers have struck submerged mines believed to have been planted by Iran.

The Soviet-flagged Marshal Chuikov was among the four ships that hit mines in May and June. The Soviet tanker was being escorted by a Soviet navy frigate when it hit the explosive device May 16. Although Iran was believed responsible, the Soviets took no action against the Iranian government.

The earlier mine explosions all occurred in the channel leading to the main Kuwaiti oil terminal of Al Ahmadi, 40 miles north of where the Bridgeton incident occurred.

“That is the only known mine field in this area,” one Western diplomat in Kuwait said of the hazardous approach to Al Ahmadi.

‘Remains to Be Seen’

It is uncertain, he said, whether the mine struck by the Bridgeton was an isolated device or part of a network. “Whether there is another mine field down the gulf remains to be seen.”

An 18-member team of U.S. Navy divers, working with Kuwaiti sailors and Saudi Arabian minesweepers, located and destroyed eight mines in Kuwait’s main channel last Sunday, clearing it of explosives.

The mines found in the channel, intended to explode on contact, were of an old Soviet design and weighed about 242 pounds, the diplomat said.

The four mine explosions off the Kuwaiti coast since mid-May were:

--May 16: the 67,980-ton Marshal Chuikov, which had been leased to Kuwait.

--May 27: the 276,424-ton Liberian-flagged tanker Primrose.

--June 10: the 274,629-ton Greek tanker Ethnic.

--June 19: The 273,408-ton Liberian-flagged tanker Stena Explorer.

All the ships were able to make it to port following the explosions, and there were no injuries.

According to a naval expert, World War I tactics are sometimes the only feasible defense against sophisticated anti-ship mines.

Don Kerr of the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies said it is difficult and time-consuming to guarantee that a ship will not ram an underwater mine.

Lookouts With Rifles

After the explosion damaged the Bridgeton, Kerr noted, extra lookouts armed with M-14 rifles were posted on the escort ships and told to fire at any suspicious objects in the water.

“This is World War I stuff,” Kerr said in an interview.