AT SEA: AMERICAN COAST GUARDS HELP TO PATROL THE ARABIAN GULF FOR SMUGGLERS TRYING TO EVADE UNITED NATIONS SANCTIONS ON IRAQ

Record ID: 184545

  • Title: AT SEA: AMERICAN COAST GUARDS HELP TO PATROL THE ARABIAN GULF FOR SMUGGLERS TRYING TO EVADE UNITED NATIONS SANCTIONS ON IRAQ
  • Date: 16th February 2003
  • Summary: (W8) ABOARD THE CGC BOUTWELL, AT SEA, ARABIAN GULF (FEBRUARY 16, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. AERIAL VIEW OF CSC BOUTWELL 0.04 2. VARIOUS VIEWS BOARDING TEAM MEMBERS GET ON SMALL BOAT TO GO TO CONTAINER SHIP (3 SHOTS) 0.20 3. SLV COAST GUARD DINGHY LEAVING 0.30 4. SLV OF BOUTWELL FROM THE WATER 0.35 5. WIDE OF ZODIAC DINGHY OF LEAVING BOUTWELL 0.40 6. SLV ZODIAC APPROACHING CONTAINER SHIP 0.46 7. SMV CREW MEMBERS ON BOUTWELL WATCHING THROUGH BINOCULARS 0.50 8. SLV BOARDING TEAM MEMBERS CLIMBING ROPE LADDER ONTO SHIP 0.58 9. VARIOUS VIEWS , BOARDING TEAM MEMBERS ON CONTAINER SHIP, CLIMBING UP CONTAINERS TO SEARCH THEM (2 SHOTS) 1.19 10. VARIOUS VIEWS , BOARDING TEAM MEMBERS OPENING AND SEARCHING CONTAINERS (3 SHOTS) 1.39 11. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) DAVID A. SCHWARTZ, BOARDING TEAM MEMBER, SAYING: "We've actually been looking for oil, what I have been told, anything going in and out of Iraq. We didn't find anything on here, all we found was a bunch of vegetable ghee and some teak wood and a couple of other things. Nothing big, nothing bad, so we'll look forward to the next one and we'll see what we can get." 2.00 12. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) BEAUJOHN ROBINS, BOARDING TEAM MEMBER, SAYING: "It could definitely get a lot more dangerous, we're all aware of that but that's our job so we will do it to our fullest." 2.10 13. AERIAL OF CONTAINER SHIP (2 SHOTS) 2.20 14. VARIOUS AERIAL VIEWS OF SHIPS IN THE ARABIAN GULF 2.27 (W8)ABOARD THE CGC BOUTWELL, AT SEA, ARABIAN GULF (FEBRUARY 18, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 15. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) COMMANDER DESTROYER SQUADRON 50, US NAVY CAPTAIN JOHN W. PETERSON, SAYING: "We're not picking a fight but frankly if Iraq wants to pick a fight with us we're ready. We're not going to take the first hit, we are trying to be non-confrontational as we execute the standing set of UN missions but we need to be on our guard with the raised tensions in the region." 2.52 (W8)ABOARD THE CGC BOUTWELL, AT SEA, ARABIAN GULF (FEBRUARY 17, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 16. SLV US WARSHIP PASSING OIL PLATFORM 3.00 17. WIDE OF SUNSET FROM BOUTWELL 3.05 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 3rd March 2003 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: AT SEA, ARABIAN GULF
  • Country: AT SEA
  • Reuters ID: LVA3SB3TKIXWSWF6Z1L0QW353HJV
  • Story Text: The coastguards on the USCGC Boutwell are used to
    tracking drug smugglers in the waters around the Americas but
    for the past few weeks they have been patrolling the Gulf for
    smugglers trying to get around United Nations sanctions on
    Iraq.



    On an inspection on Sunday (February 16), Coast Guard
    crewmember David Schwartz and the rest of the boarding team
    opened up dozens of containers stacked on the deck of a
    Malta-registered ship. Equipped with head torches and climbing
    gear, they clambered around the deck searching in every nook
    and cranny, a process that took two days.

    "All we found was a bunch of vegetable ghee and some teak
    wood and a couple of other things," Schwartz said afterwards.

    "Nothing big, nothing bad, so we'll look forward to the next
    one and we'll see what we can get."
    "It could definitely get a lot more dangerous," said
    Beaujohn Robins, another boarding team member. "We're all
    aware of that but that's our job."
    The Boutwell is working with the U.S. Navy as well as
    Australian and British forces to enforce U.N. sanctions
    imposed after the 1991 Gulf War over Baghdad's alleged weapons
    of mass destruction. Poland also provides forces to support
    the Maritime Interdiction Operations (MIO) in the northern
    Gulf.

    Oil is the main illegal export the patrols are looking for
    but also dates, an important cash crop for Iraq. They also
    routinely inspect inbound ships for illegal imports.

    Most of the ships cooperate with the boarding teams but
    sometimes smugglers will not want to be inspected and the
    teams employ force. The prospect of a U.S.-led war against
    Iraq has raised nerves but officials say the large number of
    U.S. ships in the Gulf has actually helped cut smuggling in
    recent months.

    "We're not picking a fight but frankly if Iraq wants to
    pick a fight with us we're ready. We're not going to take the
    first hit, we are trying to be non-confrontational as we
    execute the standing set of UN missions but we need to be on
    our guard with the raised tensions in the region," said U.S.

    Navy Captain John Peterson, commodore of the ships enforcing
    the sanctions in the Gulf.

    The Boutwell is equipped for self-defence with gun turrets
    and armour but it would not be directly involved in any
    conflict in the region. Still, nerves are high for the crew,
    even if the romantic sunset over the gulf allows them to
    forget for just a minute where they are.
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