Are we getting this desperate for oil?!!!

WASHINGTON, FEB 3 (AFP) - Over Moscow's protests, a US admiral decided Thursday to divert a Russian tanker to an unidentified location under US naval escort because of suspicions it smuggled gas-oil from Iraq, a Pentagon spokesman said.

The Volgoneft and its cargo could be confiscated and sold if it is found to have been carrying smuggled Iraqi oil, Rear Admiral Craig Quigley said.

"We would like to send a message to all smugglers that we're always watching, and we have a very good chance of catching you," he said.

In Moscow, Russia's deputy foreign minister Vasily Sredin denied that the tanker had ever entered Iraqi waters and demanded its immediate release.

But US military officials said the ship was tracked leaving Iraqi waters and making its way along the Iranian coast to the Strait of Hormuz, US military officials said.

It was stopped and boarded Wednesday in the Gulf of Oman by a lightly armed party from the USS Monterey, Quigley said. Fewer than 10 US Navy officials remain on the tanker, which is being watched over by the Monterey and USS Taylor, a frigate, officials said.

Vice Admiral Charles W. Moore, commander of the US Fifth Fleet, decided to divert the ship after a US Navy inspection party examined its navigation equipment and logs and took a sample of the oil it was carrying, said Quigley.

An analysis of the oil has not been completed, and Quigley declined to go into specifics about what the inspection found. But he said, "in the aggregate we feel we are on solid ground."

"We feel that there are enough indicators to us to make the decision to divert the right one," he said.

In the Gulf, the spokesman for the US-led Multi-National Maritime Interception Force (MIF) that enforces the UN embargo said: "We have quite a bit of evidence it is Iraqi oil."

"I can't go into details. But we tracked the ship since it left Iraq," said US Navy Commander Jeff Gradeck, the MIF spokesman in Bahrain.

Ships caught smuggling typically are diverted first to an anchorage in international waters until a country in the region is found that agrees to take them, Quigley said.

What happens next depends on local laws, but countries typically sell the ships and their cargo and release the crew, he said. The proceeds go to defray the costs of the country and the Multi-National Interception Force enforcing the UN embargo against Iraq.

But there are few precedents for dealing with Russian ships. US officials were aware of only two previous incidents in which Russian flag ships have been boarded, both times in 1998. On only one of those occasions a ship was diverted to port, a State Department official said.

Moreover, the latest incident comes amid tension between Moscow and Washington over the use of US military force against Iraq and Serbia, both traditional allies of Moscow.

In Moscow, Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev said he "negatively viewed the fact that a Russian trading vessel was intercepted by American military ships."

Quigley said there was no evidence of official Russian involvement in the smuggling.

But the State Department has complained several times since January to Russia's ambassador to Washington about Russian ships suspected of smuggling oil from Iraq, spokesman James Foley said.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright raised the US concerns again this week in discussions with Russian leaders in Moscow, a senior US official said.

"The Russians have told us that this ship is privately owned and that an investigation on the Russian side is under way. The Russians have not provided us, thus far, with the results of their own investigation," Foley said.

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-- (cashtradr@aol.com), February 03, 2000

Answers

Boarding a foreign vessel in international waters and diverting it to an unspecified port.....

Could this be an act of war??

-- Bill P (porterwn@one.net), February 03, 2000.

Earlier thread: Link

-- Possible Impact (posim@hotmail.com), February 03, 2000.

Maybe the unspecified port of destination will be New York or New Orleans.

-- Bill P (porterwn@one.net), February 03, 2000.

I wonder what would have happened if the tanker had been escorted by a Russian warship? RLW

-- RLW (rlw6883@ipa.net), February 03, 2000.

RLW,
We might find out sooner than we would like.


PI also means Pottasium Iodide. (grin)

-- Possible Impact (posim@hotmail.com), February 03, 2000.

But there are few precedents for dealing with Russian ships. US officials were aware of only two previous incidents in which Russian flag ships have been boarded, both times in 1998. On only one of those occasions a ship was diverted to port, a State Department official said.

There are even fewer precedents for dealing with vlad putin

-- Gordon (g_gecko_69@hotmail.com), February 03, 2000.

The United States has too many irons in the fire. Don't dare Putin to fire iron at the United States.

-- dinosaur (dinosaur@williams-net.com), February 03, 2000.

And meanwhile families in Russia are going without heat. I imagine the sailors on the Russian ship were a tad annoyed... I'm curious as well to see how Putin retaliates uh I mean how Putin practices diplomacy to resolve this uh issue...

-- Hokie (Hokie_@hotmail.com), February 03, 2000.

There is a time and a place for everything...I'm afraid this was not the time or the place...There is a lot of turmoil in Russia right now. Not a good time to challenge an unknown leader who feels he must defend his reputation as a tough guy.

-- Citizen (lost@sea.com), February 04, 2000.

Updates to the story on this thread:
MOSCOW DEMANDS RELEASE OF U.S. DETAINED RUSSIAN SHIP
Russian navy is sending a "recon" ship to watch tankers!

-- Possible Impact (posim@hotmail.com), February 04, 2000.

.... Agree, this isn't time or place; UNLESS CLINTON HAS A POLITCAL REASON.....

For example, after years of coddling up to the (former) Soviet Union, notice that 1 day after Gore almost loses NH, and one day after he sees BIG win for "war hero" McCain in NH....

... notice that the Clintons' administration suddenly gets tough with the Soviets militarily? Right before the next primary (SC), in a state which has a strong military tradition?

Funny, isn't it?

---...---...

By the way, nations have a tradition of going to war when their ships are stopped and seized in international waters......

-- Robert A. Cook, PE (Marietta, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), February 04, 2000.