Shell Damages American Tanker in Somali Port, Starting Small Oil Leak

WASHINGTON — A U.S.-owned ocean tanker assigned to support the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Somalia was hit by a shell in Mogadishu harbor Friday in what U.S. officials said was the first such attack on an allied supply ship since the humanitarian relief effort there began last December.

The U.S. Military Sealift Command said that the shell, which struck the 661-foot vessel about 12 feet below the main deck, may have been a rocket-launched grenade. Officials said they had no idea who fired the projectile.

The shell left a four-inch hole in the vessel’s hull, but caused no fire, flooding or injuries. However, petroleum leaked from the ship and the crew was forced to shift fuel to other tanks so that repairs could be made.

The Navy said that the vessel, the American Osprey, had been unloading oil at a fuel farm when it was struck.

The incident followed a week of U.S. and U.N. action designed to cripple the military power of Somali warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid. Although U.S. forces eliminated much of Aidid’s arsenal, his supporters have been vowing to get revenge.

The Navy said Friday that leakage from the tanker was slight, with about 200 barrels of oil lost at the end of the day. The vessel was carrying about 108,000 barrels of oil.