U.S.-led force rescues Iraqi tanker crew

MANAMA, Bahrain (CNN) -- A U.S.-led naval force rescued the Iraqi crew of a tanker that was sinking in the Persian Gulf while attempting to smuggle oil out of Iraq, the United States Navy said Monday.

Cmdr. Jeff Alderson, a Navy spokesman, said the Honduran-flagged ship, the Georgios, began sinking Sunday, 60 miles off the coast of Kuwait.

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Twelve Iraqi crew members jumped into the water and were pulled onto a small boat sent from the Navy destroyer, USS Stout, Alderson said. He said the ship had leaks and was in poor condition. It sank in about 20 minutes, he said.

None of the crew was injured abandoning ship, but Alderson noted that two of the crew members had pre-existing medical conditions.

The Georgios, stopped in the northern Gulf on July 10 by the Maritime Interception Force, was carrying 1,894 metric tons of oil, Alderson said.

U.N. sanctions imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait prohibit Iraq from exporting oil except with authorization by the United Nations. The sanctions cannot be lifted until U.N. weapons inspectors certify that Iraq has eliminated its weapons of mass destruction and the means to produce them.

"We held the vessel because of the sanctions we're trying to enforce," Alderson said. "Our main goal is to have the crew members repatriated."

Since the beginning of the year, the Maritime Interception Force has stopped 1,472 ships, boarded 748 and diverted 62 in its work to enforce the sanctions. The force is made up of 12 nations, including the United States, Britain, Australia, Italy and Canada.

"We have a number of ships being held as part of the interception operation," Alderson said.