Pawns in shipping war await next move

Press, 23 May 1988, Page 10

Pawns in shipping war await next move

By

MARK FISHER

NZPA-Reuter Dubai The pawns in the Gulf shipping war — the merchant seamen — are waiting anxiously for the next move in a deadly game. One question being asked, is What will Iran do now, after the beating its navy took last month in a battle with American warships?

For thousands of merchant seamen the answer could be a matter of life or death.

“Any sort of violence could happen,” said Ernesto Chavez, a Filipino seaman on shore in Dubai. “The Americans or Iranians could go crazy again. Or the war might just go away.” Nothing would surprise seasoned sailors who ply the waterway past mines, fortified islands, Silkworm missiles and United States, Soviet, British, French and Italian warships. At least 68 merchant seamen have been killed this year, some by Iraqi jets firing Exocet missiles from 40 miles away, others by Iranian gunboats spraying machinegun bullets from only a few metres. Merchant seamen from around the world have been dying since 1981 in

the name of the Iran-Iraq war.

Some say they are afraid and so do not, but all are cynical about the international politics that put their tankers and cargo ships in the front line with no-one to defend them.

Seamen have long called for help and late last month the United States answered. It extended the protection it already offered Americ a n -

flagged ships to neutral vessels but not those going to Iraqi or Iranian ports. But many shippers have doubts about Washington’s motives.

. “It is just another way to browbeat Iran,” said a Western shipping source, who declined to be named.

“The Americans could have protected (neutral) ships years ago if they wanted to.” He said that the new protection was announced just 11 days after an Amerian Iranian naval battle and said the American rules of engagement, which favour neither side in theory, will favour Iraq in practice. Ships will not be defended if they are serving Iran or Iraq. That means Iraq can continue to raid tankers carrying Iranian

oil, which provides nearly 90 per cent of the country’s export revenue, without risk of United States interference.

But Iraq’s own ports are closed because of the war. Iran raids ships serving Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States that it says support Baghdad and such attacks now risk American retaliation. Whatever the reasons for the sudden American interest in their welfare, many merchant seamen feel safer because of it. Iran has not attacked a ship since the new policy was announced on April 29. Its gunboats still patrol the Strait of Hormuz, through which dozens of tankers enter the Gulf each day, but have done no more than question ships by radio.

Sailors relaxing ashore before starting a voyage up the Gulf can only speculate on what will happen if Teheran’s gunboats start raiding again. One thinks the Americans will turn a blind eye, afraid of being drawn into a war that Teheran says could turn into another Vietnam. Another seaman wonders if Washington would use the excuse to destroy Iran’s Bander Abbas naval base in the mouth of the Gulf.

Diplomats hold similar conversations and say Washington’s Gulf policy has been anybody’s guess since its navy sank or destroyed six Iranian warships on April 18.

Britain and France are reviewing their navies’ role in the Gulf but are unlikely to join the Americans in extending protection beyond ships with their own flag, the diplomats say. The British, with a much smaller Gulf fleet than the Americans and a lower public profile, escort about 60 merchant ships a month against the United States navy’s 15, shipping sources say. "Unlike the Americans, the other navies haven’t run into mines or got into shooting matches,” said a diplomat. "They’ve got no reason to change what they are doing.” Britain has a destroyer, two frigates and three plastic ' - hulled minesweepers in its Gulf task force. The United States navy has nearly 30 ships. Iraq could hold the key to what happens now in the waterway, seamen say, with Teheran only raiding neutral ships in response to Iraqi shipping attacks, but there is no sign of Iraq easing the pressure.