MV Sea Isle City
Encyclopedia
MV Sea Isle City, ex-Umm al Maradem, was a Kuwait Oil Company oil tanker
that reflagged during Operation Earnest Will
. The ship was completed in 1981 by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
, Japan
, as hull number 1867, for the Kuwait Oil Tanker Company.
launched from the Iranian occupied Al-Faw Peninsula
on October 16, 1987. The missile struck the wheel house and crew quarters of the ship. The ship was not carrying oil at the time it was struck and was moving to be loaded. The ship's master
, a US citizen, was blinded and a total of 18 crew members were wounded. Sea Isle City was in Kuwaiti waters and was no longer under the protection of US escort ships. Sea Isle City was heavily damaged by the missile and it took 4 months to repair the damage to the bridge and crew area.
The US later undertook Operation Nimble Archer
in response to the attack, destroying two oil platforms in the Rostam oil field that were not in production and being used as tactical communication relay points, radar tracking stations and as bases of operations for helicopter and speed boat attacks on maritime shipping in international waters. According to documents seized during the raid on the platform, the Rostam platform's radar had tracked the convoy containing Sea Isle City while it was en route to Kuwait and relayed this tactical information via communications gear on the platform.
Sea Isle City lookout Victorino Gonzaga, a Philippines
national, was also blinded in the attack and treated at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute
, in Miami, where doctors were forced to remove both of his eyes. Gonzaga and his wife filed suit against Iran, naming Chesapeake Shipping Co., the Kuwait Oil Tanker Co., Kuwait Petroleum Corp. and Gleneagle Ship Management Inc. as co-defendants. The companies named settled out of court for $750,000. 14 months after the suit was filed, a Miami judge found the Government in Tehran liable and awarded $1.2 million to him and $500,000 to his wife. No representatives for Iran ever appeared before the court and at the time it was unclear if he would ever receive the compensation.
Oil tanker
An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers: the crude tanker and the product tanker. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries...
that reflagged during Operation Earnest Will
Operation Earnest Will
Operation Earnest Will was the U.S. military protection of Kuwaiti owned tankers from Iranian attacks in 1987 and 1988, three years into the Tanker War phase of the Iran–Iraq War. It was the largest naval convoy operation since World War II.The U.S. Navy warships that escorted the tankers, part of...
. The ship was completed in 1981 by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
, or MHI, is a Japanese company. It is one of the core companies of Mitsubishi Group.-History:In 1870 Yataro Iwasaki, the founder of Mitsubishi took a lease of Government-owned Nagasaki Shipyard. He named it Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works, and started the shipbuilding business on a full scale...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, as hull number 1867, for the Kuwait Oil Tanker Company.
Missile attack
Sea Isle City was struck by an Iranian Silkworm missileSilkworm missile
The Shang Yo or SY-series , and the Hai Ying or HY-series were early Chinese anti-ship missiles. They were derived from the Soviet P-15 Termit missile.The HY-1 and HY-2 received the NATO reporting name Silkworm...
launched from the Iranian occupied Al-Faw Peninsula
Al-Faw Peninsula
The Faw peninsula is a marshy region adjoining the Persian Gulf in the extreme south-east of Iraq, between and to the south-east of the cities of Basra and Abadan ....
on October 16, 1987. The missile struck the wheel house and crew quarters of the ship. The ship was not carrying oil at the time it was struck and was moving to be loaded. The ship's master
Captain (nautical)
A sea captain is a licensed mariner in ultimate command of the vessel. The captain is responsible for its safe and efficient operation, including cargo operations, navigation, crew management and ensuring that the vessel complies with local and international laws, as well as company and flag...
, a US citizen, was blinded and a total of 18 crew members were wounded. Sea Isle City was in Kuwaiti waters and was no longer under the protection of US escort ships. Sea Isle City was heavily damaged by the missile and it took 4 months to repair the damage to the bridge and crew area.
The US later undertook Operation Nimble Archer
Operation Nimble Archer
Operation Nimble Archer was the October 19, 1987, attack on two Iranian oil platforms in the Persian Gulf by United States Navy forces. The attack was a response to Iran's missile attack three days earlier on the MV Sea Isle City, a reflagged Kuwaiti oil tanker at anchor off Kuwait...
in response to the attack, destroying two oil platforms in the Rostam oil field that were not in production and being used as tactical communication relay points, radar tracking stations and as bases of operations for helicopter and speed boat attacks on maritime shipping in international waters. According to documents seized during the raid on the platform, the Rostam platform's radar had tracked the convoy containing Sea Isle City while it was en route to Kuwait and relayed this tactical information via communications gear on the platform.
Sea Isle City lookout Victorino Gonzaga, a Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
national, was also blinded in the attack and treated at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute
Bascom Palmer Eye Institute
Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, of the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, is a center for ophthalmic care, research, and education. Faculty and staff treat patients from around the world in facilities in Miami-Dade County, Broward County, Palm Beach County, and Collier County...
, in Miami, where doctors were forced to remove both of his eyes. Gonzaga and his wife filed suit against Iran, naming Chesapeake Shipping Co., the Kuwait Oil Tanker Co., Kuwait Petroleum Corp. and Gleneagle Ship Management Inc. as co-defendants. The companies named settled out of court for $750,000. 14 months after the suit was filed, a Miami judge found the Government in Tehran liable and awarded $1.2 million to him and $500,000 to his wife. No representatives for Iran ever appeared before the court and at the time it was unclear if he would ever receive the compensation.
Fate
Some of the reflagged tankers returned to Kuwaiti flags in January 1989, but Sea Isle City and several others remained US flagged. Sea Isle City was operated on a Persian Gulf to Indonesia route by Keystone Shipping Company in the 1990s and early 2000s. The tanker was listed out of service in May 2002 in the United States Coast Guard database. Its disposition is not known.External links
- Silkworm's Sting. Time (magazine)Time (magazine)Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
. Michael S. Serrill. October 26, 1987. - U.S. Flag Tanker Stuck by Missile in Kuwaiti Waters; First Direct Raid. The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. October 17, 1987.