The crippled guided missile destroyer USS Cole set out on its long voyage home to the United States on Sunday, pulled out of Aden harbor by four tugs, a correspondent reported.
Journalists were allowed into Aden port on Sunday to watch the morning departure as a Norwegian heavy-lift vessel stood off the coast waiting to load the hi-tech warship which was severely damaged in a suicide bombing on October 12 that left 17 sailors dead and 38 wounded.
Port officials explained that the right water depth had to be found for the MV Blue Marlin to sinks its decks and allow the tugs to pull the Cole aboard.
The US government has signed a 4.5-million-dollar contract with the Norwegian owners of the Blue Marlin to transport the billion-dollar destroyer back to the United States -- ADEN (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
