Japan-Owned Tanker Hit by 2 Missiles in Gulf

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates â€”  Hours before Iranian gunboats clashed with U.S. military helicopters in the Persian Gulf on Thursday, a Japanese-owned tanker was hit by two missiles as it steamed toward a port in Saudi Arabia.

It was not clear whether the missiles were fired by Iranians or Iraqis.

According to shipping sources, the missiles hit the tanker, the 9,431-ton Tomoe 8, about 60 miles from its destination, the Saudi petrochemical complex at Jubayl. Both slammed into the ship’s port side just above the water line, setting the engine room ablaze and slightly injuring three crewmen.

The master of the ship, which is registered in Panama, said he had not been able to determine whether the missiles were fired from aircraft or surface vessels.

Possible Iraqi Mistake

There was speculation that the attack might have been a mistake by Iraqi pilots thinking the tanker was bound for an Iranian port. Iran customarily attacks ships heading toward ports on the western, or Arab, side of the gulf, while Iraq has concentrated its attacks on tankers carrying Iranian crude oil from Kharg Island in the northern end of the gulf.

The Iraqi news agency said a “large maritime target� had been hit in the gulf south of Kharg Island at 9:30 a.m. At the same time, the master of the Japanese tanker reported that he had been hit.

If it is confirmed that Iraqi warplanes attacked the Japanese ship, it would be another embarrassment for Iraq. In May, Iraqi missiles hit the American frigate Stark and killed 37 members of the crew. Iraq said it was a mistake and apologized.

When the Japanese ship was hit, it was reported to be in the central gulf not far from Farsi Island, which Iranian Revolutionary Guards have used as a base for surface operations. In the past month, though, there has only been one report of the Iranians using ship-to-ship missiles against civilian vessels.

French Find 2 More Mines

In other developments, France announced Thursday that its minesweepers have found two more mines off the port of Khawr Fakkan in the Gulf of Oman below the Persian Gulf. The mines were found in the same area where two others were found last week.

The port of Khawr Fakkan is normally crowded with tankers waiting to enter the Persian Gulf, but the presence of mines in the area has sharply reduced the number of ships putting in there.

Also Thursday, Iraq said that 64 Iraqi fighter-bombers attacked Iranian troops on the central war front east of Baghdad. A communique issued in Baghdad said the raids were carried out against troop concentrations and supply centers in an area where a number of ground clashes have been reported recently.

W. Germans Sending Destroyer

The West German Defense Ministry announced Thursday that it is sending a destroyer, a frigate and a support vessel to the Mediterranean to take the place of ships of other North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries that have gone to the gulf to protect international shipping.

A ministry statement said the ships will be based in the Mediterranean from Oct. 14 to the middle of December as “a clear gesture of solidarity by West Germany with our allies and a contribution to support those allies who are protecting shipping in the gulf region, also for West Germany.�

It marked the first time that West German warships have been used on NATO duties in the Mediterranean, a ministry spokesman said, but the West German constitution forbids use of its armed forces abroad for non-NATO duties.

Besides the United States, Britain, France and Italy have minesweepers and other vessels in the gulf, while Belgium and the Netherlands have expressed the intention to follow suit.