Iranian Gunboats Attack Freighter, Tanker in Gulf; 1 Crewman Killed

Iranian gunboats staged daylight attacks Saturday on a West German freighter and a British-owned tanker 350 miles apart in the Persian Gulf. One crewman died and two were wounded in the attacks.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the raids “could easily be interpreted as a direct show of defiance” by Iran of U.S. military strength in the gulf.

A U.S. warship was dispatched to aid the 258,979-ton British tanker Esso Demetia off the Saudi Arabian coast after it sent out what a U.S. Navy spokesman called a “general appeal for assistance.”

The American spokesman, Lt. Cmdr. Brad Goforth, said the U.S. warship, which he declined to identify, would provide “humanitarian assistance.”

Reported on Fire

He said reports indicated that the Esso Demetia was on fire. Gulf-based shipping executives, who had reported the attack earlier, said the tanker crew was battling serious fires on board.

In London, Lloyd’s Shipping Intelligence Unit said the Esso Demetia “was attacked by two fast boats,” had a fire in its tanks, and had lost one lifeboat. No injuries were reported, Lloyd’s said.

Four hours earlier, a Filipino crew member was killed and two others were critically wounded when two gunboats fired on the 11,744-ton German freighter Dhaulagiri in the Strait of Hormuz.

The ship was under charter to American President Lines Ltd., of San Francisco, according to shipping executives, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

U.S. Ships Out of Position

As with other recent Iranian forays against commercial shipping, the raids caught the U.S. warships patrolling the gulf out of position to intervene with force, had they been asked to do so. There are about 10 American warships patrolling gulf waters.

Under expanded “rules of engagement” that went into effect on May 3, U.S. commanders in the gulf are allowed to intervene when a non-U.S.-flag ship in international waters asks for help. The six Iranian attacks since May 3 have been away from areas where they might encounter opposition from the U.S. ships.

The Dhaulagiri was steaming northward into the strait when it was attacked Saturday morning.

First Attack in 2 Weeks

The attack on the Dhaulagiri was the first by Iran in two weeks. It followed Iraq’s attack Thursday that killed two crew members aboard a chartered tugboat. Iraq reported another air strike on Friday but it was not independently confirmed.

The Dhaulagiri was manned by five Germans and 14 Filipinos, the shipping executives said, and all the casualties were Filipinos.

The executives said a man speaking with a Filipino accent was heard on the radio calling frantically for assistance after the attack.

“He was begging, almost crying, for helicopter assistance to remove the wounded,” one executive said.

They said an Omani navy patrol boat responded to the distress call and took the injured to a hospital.

The Dhaulagiri was bound for the Saudi port of Dammam when attacked, and it headed to Dubai for repairs, the sources said.

Since violence from the 8-year-old Iran-Iraq conflict spilled into the gulf in 1984, more than 500 merchant ships have been damaged or lost and more than 300 sailors killed.