January 14, 1986

An article yesterday on the 48th International PEN Congress incorrectly identified the position to which Norman Mailer was elected Sunday. He was chosen president of the PEN Congress.

The Reagan Administration said today that Iran might have been within its rights in forcing an American merchant ship to submit to a search by armed Iranians in international waters near the Persian Gulf on Sunday. At the same time, the United States sent two Navy warships to the Gulf of Oman where the freighter, the President Taylor, was docked in the United Arab Emirates port of Fujaira. The vessel was boarded and searched Sunday by seven Iranian officers and seamen, who were looking for signs that it was carrying military cargo for Iraq. The Iranians, who have been stopping neutral ships for the last five months to search for contraband destined for Iraq, Iran's enemy in a five-year-old war, allowed the President Taylor to proceed after a 45-minute search.

NOT content with the ordinary ice that blankets their country in winter, Canadian scientists have created two new kinds - one designed to help make ships safer, and the other replicating a strange, extraterrestrial form of water. As one result, physicists are unraveling some of the scientific mysteries of water, the third most abundant substance in the universe after hydrogen and helium. They also hope to find the means of preventing tragedies that sometimes befall the crews of ships and drilling rigs working in ice-infested waters. Perhaps more conscious of ice than scientists in warmer countries, physicists of Canada's National Research Council are pioneering both the engineering and theoretical aspects of ice research. The Council reached a milestone two months ago with the completion of its $55 million Institute for Marine Dynamics at St. John's, Newfoundland.

An item in Sports World Specials yesterday about NBC's pre-game coverage of the Super Bowl on Jan. 26 misspelled the name of a director who will film a segment of the program. He is Bob Giraldi.

Growing discontent within the Libyan armed forces has presented Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi with one of the most politically sensitive challenges in his 16-year rule, according to diplomats and Libyan officials. The officials and diplomats attributed the restiveness, particularly within the army, to efforts by Colonel Qaddafi to create ''armed masses.'' They also cited the country's deepening economic crisis as a factor. The malaise is said to have deepened since the death - and possible slaying - of Col. Hassan Ishkal, the third most powerful man in Libya's Government and head of the military region of Sirte, on Nov. 23 or 24.