Quote:
Originally Posted by Rocket
 Great story |
He was caught on a couple of occasions Paul. One weekend he had won a fishing rod and reel at a golf competition in Stanley. He went to one of the nearby pools to try it out, but on the first cast the lure got caught up in the tussock grass on the other side of the pool. As happens when you don't want anyone looking, a patrol appeared over the hillock. He decided to act as if everything was fine. The leader asked if he had caught anything, and he replied that he hadn't had a nibble. The patrol leader then said, "I'm not surprised, your lure is caught in the tussock grass, would you like me to get it out for you?", which he proceeded to do. Our captain had a very red face as the patrol walked away laughing.
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During the Iran - Iraq war the Persian Gulf was not a safe place for tankers. War planes from both countries were targeting tankers that were thought to be heading for enemy ports.
In 1985 the Athenian Xenophon came into Dubai for repairs atter being hit by four missiles from an unidentified warplane. The ship had been heading for Kuwait, and neither side admitted the attack.
The accommodation block beneath the bridge was a favourite target for the warplanes.
The Polish First Mate was seriously injured during the attack and was lifted off by helicopter. Thankfully there was no loss of life.
The Athenian Xenophon was the 77th victim of the so called "tanker war", and was attacked just 185 miles north east of Dubai.