VOL. XXXI

NO. 13

4-JANUARY-1988

GULF SHIPPING

No Christmas Respite in Shipping War

There has been little let-up over Christmas in attacks on shipping by bothsides in the Gulf war, and the sustained tempo of attacks in recent weeks hasfinally resulted in major increases in both hull and cargo insurance rates forGulf-bound ships.

On 22 December Iraqi aircraft struck at long range at Iran's Larak islandterminal near the Strait of Hormuz, hitting four of the nine tankers reportedlyused for storage...