Navy Holds Up Tanker Escorts for Minesweeping
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WASHINGTON — The Navy has delayed further escorting of Kuwaiti tankers in the Persian Gulf until at least next week, when American minesweeping helicopters begin work in the war-torn waterway, defense officials said today.
“The convoy is being delayed and probably will not be run until late next week at the earliest,” one of the officials, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters.
Officials said the U.S. helicopter transport ship Guadalcanal left the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia today for the gulf with eight Navy minesweeping helicopters to clear a path to Kuwait for the tankers Gas King, Ocean City and Sea Isle City.
The three Kuwaiti ships are waiting outside the Gulf to hoist U.S. flags and be escorted through the Strait of Hormuz by Navy warships under a plan by President Reagan to protect commercial shipping during the Iran-Iraq War.
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