Thirty-four years ago today, on September 29, 1991 (August 22, 1991 lunar calendar), American warships intercepted a Soviet cargo ship. On September 29, 1991, an American destroyer intercepted a Soviet cargo ship bound for Jordan in the Red Sea. The U.S. side said that the cargo ship was carrying military supplies bound for Iraq. Jim Richson, the head of the U.S. Navy in Bahrain, said the cargo ship had left the Soviet port of Nikolayev and was scheduled to unload at the Jordanian port of Aqaba. He said that a French destroyer pilot also intercepted a merchant ship bound for Jordan on September 30. The merchant ship flew the flag of the Caribbean island of Vincent. Before the Gulf War, Jordan was the main channel for the import and export of Iraqi goods.