6 Kuwaiti Tankers Reportedly Ending U.S. Flag Protection

Kuwait has decided to withdraw six oil tankers from U.S. registration, “deflagging” the vessels and ending their right to American naval protection, Administration sources said Wednesday.

The sources, who asked not to be named, said the United States has also agreed after extensive negotiations that the five ships that continue to fly the Stars and Stripes will have one year to comply with a law requiring that they sail with all-American crews.

The Kuwaitis had received a similar one-year waiver last year when they first decided to re-register their tankers. That allowed the vessels to sail with only two Americans on board--the ship’s master and radio officer.

The sources said the Kuwaitis’ request for the new waiver apparently stems from a desire to avoid paying the higher salaries expected by American crews.

In 1987, the Reagan Administration agreed to let Kuwait re-register the 11 tankers in order to extend them protection. Kuwait is an ally of Iraq and, as a result, had seen its tankers increasingly come under Iranian attack.

Until Iran and Iraq agreed to a cease-fire last August, the U.S. Navy had been shadowing every convoy of Kuwaiti tankers up and down the gulf. Currently, as the truce has held, the Navy simply keeps the tankers within radio or radar range as they transit the waterway.

The oil product carriers Surf City, Chesapeake City, Sea Isle City and Ocean City and the supertanker Bridgeton will remain under the U.S. flag.