Reports Differ Over Death Toll on Tanker Hit by Iraqi Planes

Conflicting reports emerged Monday of the death toll aboard the Norwegian-operated, 218,467-ton tanker Susangird, which was twice raided by Iraqi warplanes in the northern Persian Gulf last Wednesday and Thursday.

The operators were quoted as saying that two crewmen were dead and 20 missing. If the 20 missing were confirmed dead, it would be the highest toll for an assault on a tanker in the gulf since Iraq and Iran began regular attacks on commercial shipping several years ago as a tactic in the war they have been fighting since September, 1980.

However, a gulf-based shipping executive said the Susangird toll was three or four dead, including Norwegian Capt. Olaf Leroey, his Polish first mate and a Filipino seaman. The executive, who refused to be identified by name, said the rest of the 27-man crew, most of them Philippine citizens, were rescued from the blazing vessel by the Iranians and taken ashore in that country.

The Susangird was on charter to the National Iranian Tanker Co.

Report From Norway

Norway’s national news agency NTB quoted the Susangird’s operators, Reksten Management of Bergen, as reporting that five injured crewmen were in a hospital in Tehran, that two crewmen were found dead aboard ship, and that “the 20 other members of the crew are still listed as missing, presumably dead.”

One maritime salvage expert said the Susangird is now anchored off the Iranian port of Lavan in the central part of the gulf with “not that much damage.”

Meanwhile, an Iranian frigate attacked two Greek tankers within 16 minutes in the southern Persian Gulf late last week, inflicting minor damage but no injuries, Lloyd’s Shipping Intelligence Unit reported Monday.

London-based Lloyd’s identified the vessels, attacked on Friday night, as the 48,671-ton Filikos, bound for Saudi Arabia, and the 51,372-ton Tharaleos, bound for Kuwait.

A Dubai-based shipping agent, explaining why word of the attacks came so late, said: “It appears the two captains, hired by the same company, preferred to continue their voyages in silence without attracting more attention.”

Frigate Challenges

The Iranian navy uses frigates to challenge ships in the southern part of the gulf to determine their nationality, cargo and destination. Vessels suspected of carrying cargo for Tehran’s foe Iraq are often seized.

The two Greek tankers were attacked not far from where an Iranian warship attacked the 232,164-ton Cypriot tanker Pivot on Saturday, maritime salvage experts said. Shipping sources in Dubai said that an Iranian frigate returned Monday to harass the Pivot, anchored 20 miles off Dubai for repairs.

Iraqi warplanes attack Iran’s tankers in a bid to choke off oil exports and force Tehran to accept a negotiated settlement to the war. Iran retaliates with attacks on neutral ships.

Lloyd’s says more than 420 merchant ships have been attacked since 1981, including 155 this year alone. The worst single confirmed death toll to date was 16 seamen killed in an Iraqi air strike on the Iranian tanker Azarpad last year.