Strike-Delayed Cargo Ship Leaves for Persian Gulf

Ten days after it was idled by a strike among its crew, a Kuwaiti-owned cargo ship finally left Los Angeles Harbor Friday night with thousands of tons of military equipment for American troops in the Persian Gulf.

The departure of the Trident Baltic, owned by United Arab Shipping, brings to more than a dozen the number of cargo vessels that have departed for the gulf from the harbor. It was the first, however, to have been delayed in departing for the Middle East by a labor dispute.

Tanya McCullough, a spokeswoman for the Navy’s Military Sealift Command, said the delayed departure of the Trident Baltic would not significantly affect supplies to troops in the Middle East. In all, the command has about 250 ships, about half of them foreign vessels, ferrying supplies to the troops.

The Trident Baltic was idled at Berth 221 on Terminal Island in the early morning of Dec. 19 when its 30-member crew, most of them Filipinos, went on strike over unpaid wages. The strike prevented local longshoremen from loading the vessel, which was taken from the berth and anchored in the harbor until Wednesday, when the crew’s back wages were paid.