The Greek Captain of the Liberian tanker Coral Sea provided an eyewitness account last night of the bazooka attack on his vessel last Friday as it was passing through the Straits Bab el-Mandab at the southern end of the Red Sea bound for Eilat with a cargo of oil. Captain Markos Muskoss, 40, said he was able to observe clearly the four men on the attacking motorboat who fired nine bazooka shells, some of which hit his ship. He said one of the men was a Negro. Capt. Muskoss said the attack occurred near Perim island in the middle of the straits. He said he observed three high speed fishing boats cruising in the waters and then a motorboat which circled his ship once and opened fire. He said the motorboat made off after setting a fire aboard the Coral Sea. Capt. Muskoss said it took about an hour to extinguish the blaze and put his ship in order. According to the captain, the fishing boats appeared to be covering the motorboat’s escape. The Coral Sea dropped anchor last night off Sharm el-Sheikh at the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
