Tanker Smuggling Oil Sinks in Gulf

A ship smuggling thousands of tons of Iraqi oil sank in the Persian Gulf, a U.S. Navy official said, and authorities in Dubai said some of the fuel spilled into the water.

Crews were trying to contain the spill more than 24 hours after the ship sank about 20 miles off the Dubai coast, an official at the Dubai Port Control said.

Cmdr. Jeff Gradeck, a spokesman for the Navy's 5th Fleet, said the ship had 3,850 tons of fuel oil on board and had been intercepted several days earlier for violating U.N. sanctions against Iraq. "The ship was en route to a holding area in international waters for sanction-busting ships when it sank," he said.