View source for MV Sea Isle City

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2019}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[Image:MV Sea Isle City 1987 crop.jpg|300px|''Sea Isle City'']]
|Ship caption=''Sea Isle City'' en route to Kuwait August 1987
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship name=*1981: ''Umm al Maradem''
* 1987: ''Sea Isle City''
* 2002: ''Sea Isle''
|Ship namesake=*1981: [[Umm al Maradim Island|Umm al Maradem Island]]
* 1987: [[Sea Isle City, New Jersey]]
|Ship owner=*1981: Kuwait Oil Tanker Company
* 1987: Chesapeake Shipping, Inc.
* later: [[Keystone Shipping Company]]
|Ship registry=*1977: {{flagicon|Kuwait}} [[Kuwait City|Kuwait]]
* 1987: {{flagicon|United States}} [[Philadelphia]]
|Ship route=late 1990s: Persian Gulf to Indonesia
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Mitsubishi Heavy Industries]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=1867
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|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=
|Ship built=1981
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|Ship in service=1981
|Ship out of service=2002
|Ship fate=[[ship breaking|broken up]], 2002, India
|Ship notes=
|Ship identification=*[[Maritime call sign|Call sign]] WCYQ
* {{IMO Number|7924918}}
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class=Tank Ship, Sequence M2NMFN, Hull form H
|Ship tonnage=*96,888 [[Deadweight tonnage|DWT]]
* 51,397 [[Gross tonnage|GT ITC]]
* 29,763 [[Net tonnage|NET]]
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|Ship length={{convert|728.5|ft|m|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|144.4|ft|m|1|abbr=on}}
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|Ship draft={{convert|61.0|ft|m|1|abbr=on}}
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|Ship propulsion=[[Sulzer (manufacturer)|Sulzer]]
|Ship speed={{convert|15|kn|km/h|abbr=on}}
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|Ship notes=References<ref>[[Jane's Information Group]]. [http://www.janes.com/extracts/extract/jms/jms0880.html Sea Isle City extract]. Accessed 31 August 2008.</ref><ref name=PSIX>[[United States Coast Guard]]. [http://cgmix.uscg.mil/PSIX/PSIXDetails.aspx?VesselID=279235 PSIX data for vessel 279235]. Accessed 31 August 2008.</ref><ref>[[United States Coast Guard]]. [http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/st1/CoastGuard/index.html Vessel Documentation Center]. Accessed 31 August 2008.</ref>
}}
|}

'''MV ''Sea Isle City''''', ex-''Umm al Maradem'',<ref>''Umm Casbah Becomes Ocean City As Kuwaiti Ships Await U.S. Flags'' Aly Mahmoud. [[The Washington Post]]. Washington, D.C.: 24 June 1987. pg. a.21</ref> was a [[Kuwait Oil Company]] [[oil tanker]] that reflagged during [[Operation Earnest Will]]. The ship was completed in 1981 by [[Mitsubishi Heavy Industries]], [[Japan]], as hull number 1867, for the Kuwait Oil Tanker Company.

==Missile attack==
''Sea Isle City'' was struck during the [[Iran–Iraq War#Attacks on shipping|Tanker War]] phase of the [[Iran–Iraq War]] by an Iranian [[Silkworm missile]] launched from the Iranian occupied [[Al-Faw Peninsula]] at 05:30 A.M. on 16 October 1987.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kifner |first=John |last2=Times |first2=Special To the New York |date=1987-10-19 |title=Kuwait Is Said to Seek An Anti-Missile Defense |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/19/world/kuwait-is-said-to-seek-an-anti-missile-defense.html |access-date=2023-01-31 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The missile struck the [[Bridge (nautical)|wheel house]] and crew quarters of the ship. The ship was not carrying oil at the time it was struck and was moving to be loaded. The ship's [[Captain (nautical)|master]], a US citizen, was blinded<ref>"Blinded U.S. Captain Recovers After Attack; Glass Sprayed Head When Missile Struck"; Patrick E. Tyler. ''[[The Washington Post]]''. Washington, D.C. 19 October 1987. pg. a.16</ref> and a total of 18 crew members were wounded. ''Sea Isle City'' was in Kuwaiti waters and was no longer under the protection of US escort ships.<ref>"Ship flying U.S. flag hit; 18 wounded"; ''[[St. Petersburg Times]]''. [[St. Petersburg, Florida]]. 17 October 1987. pg. 1.A</ref> ''Sea Isle City'' was heavily damaged by the missile and it took 4 months to repair the damage to the bridge and crew area.<ref name=ICJ>[http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/90/8632.pdf Counter-Memorial and Counter-claim submitted by the United States of America] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140331230923/http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/90/8632.pdf |date=31 March 2014}}. 23 June 1997.</ref>

{{location map|Kuwait|float=left|caption=Approximate location of ''Sea Isle City'' when struck by Silkworm missile|lat_deg=29|lat_min=7|lat_sec=0|lon_deg=48|lon_min=17|lon_sec=00|width=200}}
The US later undertook [[Operation Nimble Archer]] in response to the attack, destroying two oil platforms in the Rostam oil field that were not in production and being used as tactical communication relay points, radar tracking stations and as bases of operations for helicopter and speed boat attacks on maritime shipping in international waters.<ref>"U.S. Destroyers Shell Iranian Military Platform in Gulf; Retaliation for Silkworm Attack Called 'Measured and Appropriate'"; Molly Moore. ''[[The Washington Post]]''. Washington, D.C.: 20 October 1987. pg. a.01.</ref> According to documents seized during the raid on the platform, the Rostam platform's radar had tracked the convoy containing ''Sea Isle City'' while it was en route to Kuwait and relayed this tactical information via communications gear on the platform.<ref name="ICJ" />

''Sea Isle City'' lookout Victorino Gonzaga, a [[Philippines]] national, was also blinded in the attack and treated at the [[Bascom Palmer Eye Institute]], in [[Miami]], where doctors were forced to remove both of his eyes.<ref>"Blinded sailor sues Iran." ''The Gazette''. Montreal, Quebec. 26 November 1987. pg. H.11.</ref> Gonzaga and his wife filed suit against Iran, naming Chesapeake Shipping Co., the Kuwait Oil Tanker Co., Kuwait Petroleum Corp. and Gleneagle Ship Management Inc. as co-defendants.<ref>"Blinded Seaman Files Suit". The Associated Press. ''Sun Sentinel''. Fort Lauderdale: 26 November 1987. pg. 42.A</ref> The companies named settled out of court for $750,000. 14 months after the suit was filed, a Miami judge found the Government in Tehran liable and awarded $1.2 million to him and $500,000 to his wife. No representatives for Iran ever appeared before the court and at the time it was unclear if he would ever receive the compensation.<ref>[http://www.lipcon.com/news_article16.shtml "Blinded in attack from Iran, seaman awarded $1 million"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081003071554/http://www.lipcon.com/news_article16.shtml |date=3 October 2008}}. ''The Miami Herald''. via Lipcon, Margulies & Alsina, P.A.</ref>

==Fate==
Some of the reflagged tankers returned to Kuwaiti flags in January 1989, but ''Sea Isle City'' and several others remained US-flagged.<ref>''6 Kuwaiti Tankers Reportedly Ending U.S. Flag Protection''; [[Los Angeles Times]]. [[Los Angeles, California]]. 19 January 1989. pg. 5.</ref> ''Sea Isle City'' was operated on a [[Persian Gulf]] to [[Indonesia]] route by [[Keystone Shipping Company]] in the 1990s and early 2000s. The tanker was listed out of service in May 2002 in the United States Coast Guard database.<ref name="PSIX"/> and scrapped in India in August 2002.<ref>{{csr|register=MSI|id=7924918|shipname=Sea Isle City|accessdate=21 February 2019}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121025161630/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,965838-1,00.html Silkworm's Sting]. [[Time (magazine)]]. Michael S. Serrill. 26 October 1987.
* [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE5DA1138F934A25753C1A961948260 U.S. Flag Tanker Struck by Missile in Kuwaiti Waters; First Direct Raid]. [[The New York Times]]. 17 October 1987.

{{1987 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sea Isle City}}
[[Category:Tankers of Japan]]
[[Category:Ships built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries]]
[[Category:1981 ships]]
[[Category:Tankers of Kuwait]]
[[Category:Tankers of the United States]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1987]]
[[Category:Oil tankers]]
[[Category:Iran–Iraq War]]