European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 16, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes world tuesday february 16. Ship was on deadly course officer says chinese Likely would have died without . Aid Kwajalein Island Marshall is lands a More than 500 chinese being smuggled to America in the locked hold of a cargo ship would have died without the intervention of the United states a . Coast guard official said monday. Some 400 of the 527 passengers who set out on the East Wood in late de Cember were kept in the hold until the . T coast guard boarded the ship feb. 5. The ship was towed to port sat  my opinion these people would have died said it. Cmdr. Dan me Cloud a member of the boarding party. They did not have enough food and water to make it to any destination. And Missi ship had been hijacked. The passengers have told interpreters authorities believed they fell victim to the ship s owner East Wood shipping Tham hey do not want to return u a Jhom. A group of passengers armed with knives co. Of Hong Kong chartered the vessel and homemade swords. The organizers of the smuggling operation were having trouble feeding and maintaining control Over the 400 people to hey say that if they go Back they will go to jail for five years or. Peter Chu they say that if they go Back they will vol of m Voll by Hgt or pm j a � to an unidentified party that apparently go to jail for five years said or. Peter put the chinese nationals aboard soon Chu. And More than that they have lost after the ship left Hong Kong on dec. 29, everything they had officials said. The Marshall islands an ind Epen some of the chinese told a task Force Dent nation in the Central Pacific gave of the . Pacific come that they paid the ship permission to Dock saturday on smugglers thousands of dollars to reach the condition the United states they had paid anywhere from a $3,000 Down payment with a $30,000 Bill for passage to come across army it. Col. Greg Smith said. The passengers and Crew were in the hold and that led to Force or Vio. Lence toward the Crew coast guard at the Point we boarded their engine and c t a an do said Generator were broken and they had no the