Ship-damage report may confirm Iraqi war claims

Two Iranian vessels, a tanker and a hotel ship, are reported to be lying badly damaged in Iran's Gulf port of Bushehr, a Lloyd shipping agency spokesman said.

The Lloyd report followed an Iraqi claim that its planes and naval units had sunk five tankers at Iran's main oil terminal at Khark Island, 40 miles northwest of Bushehr. The Lloyd report provided the first independent confirmation of damage to any shipping in the Gulf over the weekend. But Lloyd had no firm indication of when the ships were hit.