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MV ''Bridgeton'', ex-''al-Rekkah'', was a Kuwait Oil Company oil tanker that was reflagged during Operation Earnest Will. Ordered and built as ''al-Rekkah'', the ship was built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in its Nagasaki shipyard and launched August 14, 1976. In 1987, the United States agreed to Kuwaiti requests to provide naval escorts for its tankers on the condition that the civilian ships be reflagged under U.S. flag. ''al-Rekkah'' was perforce renamed ''Bridgeton''. On July 24, 1987, ''Bridgeton'' was part of the first Earnest Will convoy when it struck an Iranian mine near Farsi Island. The explosion breached the outer hull and the forward cargo tanks, spilling oily residue. The ship sailed to Dubai Drydock Shipyard for repair. The mining prompted Operation Prime Chance, a secret effort to stop more minelaying. In September 1987, ''Iran Ajr'' was discovered laying mines, captured and scuttled by U.S. forces. Some of the reflagged tankers returned to Kuwaiti flags in January 1989, but ''Bridgeton'' and several others remained U.S.-flagged. In the late 1990s, ''Bridgeton'' transferred to Panamanian registry and was renamed ''Pacific Blue''. The supertanker was scrapped in 2002 at Haryana Ship Demolition in Alang, India. ==References== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「SS Bridgeton」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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