Former Skipper Says He Was a Victim of Faulty Information

U. S. Navy Capt. Alexander G. Balian testified Tuesday that he would have rescued a boatload of Vietnamese refugees his ship found adrift in the South China Sea if he had been correctly informed of their plight.

His voice sometimes choking with emotion, the 48-year-old Balian told a Navy court-martial that, if he had known the desperate conditions aboard the Vietnamese craft, “there is no doubt in my mind I would tow them to my side and embark them. That’s what I did on two previous occasions.”

Balian, a graduate of UCLA, is charged with dereliction of duty and failing to provide sufficient assistance to the refugees.

His ship, the amphibious transport dock Dubuque, encountered the refugees’ craft June 9, 1988, but Balian decided not to take them aboard. Thirty-one of the 110 refugees died, and survivors resorted to cannibalism before they were rescued by Filipino fishermen June 27 after 37 days at sea, U. N. officials said.

Balian testified that his crew gave the refugees 400 pounds of food and 55 gallons of water and added, referring to the survivors: “If it wasn’t for what we did, those people wouldn’t be alive today.

“I am being charged with giving insufficient assistance,” he said. “What is sufficient?” he added, raising his voice. “If I assisted them forever and ever and ever and ever, would that be sufficient assistance?”

When the Dubuque encountered the refugees’ junk, Balian said, he ordered his executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. Stanley Halter, to determine if the craft was seaworthy.

Halter, who went out in a launch to inspect the junk and reported to Balian by radio, told him the refugees said they did not need medical assistance and felt they could continue if given food and water, Balian testified.

Based on poor interpreting, mistaken information and faulty communication, Balian said, he made the decision to leave the refugees behind.

“I made my decision like any commanding officer had to,” using the information at hand, Balian said.

“We thought we did a good job. In fact (the refugees) waved happily in thanks” after being given the food and water, he said.

Balian said he later realized his crew had inadvertently given him incorrect information.

He said Halter had told him the refugees said they had been at sea seven days when it was more like 19, according to later investigation.

He said Halter also said the refugees told him they had had no food and water for three days, although later investigation suggested it was more like a week.

Halter also said the refugees reported they had no engine, although in fact they had a broken one.

Balian also said he was unaware his executive officer had not placed any medics on board three boats sent out to check the conditions on the junk.

He said he looked at the refugees through binoculars from the bridge of the Dubuque, at a distance of 240 to 600 feet, but could not see any naked refugees on board, nor the degree to which they were emaciated, as depicted in photographs taken with zoom lenses by his crew.

Balian also denied allegations that he ordered crew members not to throw life rings to some of the Vietnamese who swam toward the ship. He said he did order an interpreter to tell swimmers to move away for fear they would be injured by the ship’s propellers.

Balian was relieved of command of the Dubuque in August, after the refugees reported the incident to U. N. officials in the Philippines.