Iraq Raids Key Iranian Oil Depot; 4 Ships Set Ablaze

Iraq staged a long-range bombing raid against a key Iranian oil export installation Tuesday, setting fire to four ships, including the world’s largest oil tanker.

The Larak Island terminal, in the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, is used by Iran to stockpile unsold oil for export, creating a vast inventory that has helped to depress world prices for crude oil.

The attack on Larak, which Iraq has raided infrequently in the past, was technically difficult because of the vast distance involved. To reach the target, Iraq’s Mirage jet fighter-bombers had to be refueled while in flight.

A war communique issued in Baghdad noted that the planes had traveled 720 miles to the target, penetrated Iranian defenses and “unleashed the wrath of their shells on the floating oil storage tanks.”

A high command spokesman was quoted by Baghdad radio as saying that the bombs “fell directly on these floating tankers and ravaged them, set them on fire and left them under thick clouds of smoke.”

According to reports from shipping officials and the London-based Lloyd’s Shipping Intelligence Unit, among the tankers that were hit was the 564,739-ton Seawise Giant, a Liberian-registered vessel regarded as the world’s largest tanker.

The other ships confirmed hit were the 411,508-ton, Liberian-registered World Petrobas and the 457,927-ton Burmah Enterprise, a British-flag vessel.

There was some confusion as to the name of the fourth vessel. Some reports identified it as the 392,985-ton, Cypriot-flag White Rose, others as the 113,780-ton, Maltese-flagged Free Enterprise.

Fires on all four tankers were extinguished, and no casualties were reported, Lloyd’s said.

The huge vessels--all but the Free Enterprise would qualify as supertankers--are under charter by Iran to store oil produced at its Kharg Island terminal in the northern part of the gulf. Iranian-owned vessels transport crude oil to Larak Island for storage or for transshipment via other tankers to the rest of the world.

The Iranians have reportedly encountered extreme difficulties marketing their full quota of more than 2 million barrels a day assigned by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, particularly since the United States banned imports of Iranian crude oil.

The Iranians are said to have six weeks’ worth of oil exports sitting in tankers at Larak Island.

Iraq has been pounding Iranian shipping in recent weeks in an effort to force Iran to abandon its seven-year-old war with Iraq. While causing some spectacular damage on the sea lanes, the so-called tanker war has been ineffective in limiting Iran’s crucial oil exports.

In Riyadh on Tuesday, Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd was quoted as having rebuked Iran for failing to accept a U.N. Security Council call for a cease-fire. Fahd praised Iraq for accepting the truce resolution adopted by the Security Council on July 20.

In Bahrain, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) began a fact-finding trip to the Persian Gulf region by meeting with the emir of Bahrain, Sheik Isa ibn Salman al Khalifa. Kennedy is planning to spend Christmas aboard U.S. Navy vessels in the gulf.