Captain of Pak-bound mystery ship with arms being quizzed

[Break the Silence]

Captain of Pak-bound mystery ship with arms being quizzedKolkata: The Karachi-bound cargo vessel from Bangladesh carrying military hardware and explosives was kept cordoned off on Saturday at Diamond Harbour in South 24 Parganas district with the captain disembarked and taken for questioning.

The captain of the Liberian registered ship, who was not identified, was taken to the Radisson Fort resort for questioning, police officials said.

The Navy and Coast Guard personnel had seized the ship on Friday on an intelligence tip off. It was anchored at Kalicharanpara.

The police and the Customs were still present on the ship, M V Agean Glory. The name of the ship had been given as S G Zyat on Friday night by the officials.

It had set sail from Chittangong in Bangladesh and had anti-aircraft guns, rocket launchers, five tonne of explosives, besides a huge quantity of ammunition and smoke bombs in two large containers on board.

Director General of Police Bhupinder Singh had described the incident as "alarming" and said it was surprising why the Pakistani-bound vessel was passing through Indian waters.

Sources said the military hardware includes rocket launchers, cartridges, explosives and white phosphorous. Nearly five tonnes of arms and ammunition were found in the containers.

According to a senior Port Trust official, the ship, Agean Glory, had come from Chittagong port in Bangladesh. There was no declaration on the part of the handling agents about the cargo that was being carried in the ship, said the official. It is mandatory to make a declaration even if the container is not off-loaded at the port.

It is not clear why the Pakistan-bound ship was passing through Indian waters. It was intercepted by Coast Guard vessels. Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) S Karpurakayastha said "the ship was detained on an intelligence tip-off."

After being interrogated, the master of the ship conceded that the vessel was carrying several containers that had high explosives and arms and ammunition.

"Our inspection is still on. A huge cache of arms and ammunition along with explosives for military use have been found in the ship. The port officials and the Bengal police detained the ship and started inspection. The Customs officials were also informed. They are now checking the cargo and examining the documents of the ship," said Bhupinder Singh, DGP.

According to sources, the ship will not be released till the Port Trust authorities get clearance from the Customs department as well as the Union Home Ministry.

State Home Secretary Samar Ghosh said: "A team consisting of senior officials of the Home department and the police has been sent to the spot. They will scrutinise every detail. We have to check what case can be filed against the ship for carrying explosives without giving any declaration to the port authority."

A senior Home department official said, "The matter has been communicated to the Union Home Ministry and the Ministry of External Affairs."

Source: The Indian Express

 

[Break the Silence]

Some how ,this news gave me the "recall" of the news, which was related to the arm- supply to Naxalites by our good neighbours...

 

[JonAsad]

RE RE Post

 

[TaimiKhan]

DHAKA: Bangladesh's army said Monday that an arms-laden ship bound for Pakistan detained by Indian authorities last week was returning weapons used during a UN peacekeeping mission.

The MV Aegean Glory, bound for Karachi, was seized last Friday 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of the Indian city of Kolkata. It contained explosives, rocket launchers, anti-aircraft guns and bombs, Indian officials said.

The ship was returning decommissioned weapons used by Pakistani peacekeepers during a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Liberia, Bangladesh armed forces spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Kazi Kabirul Islam said in a statement.

“The ship left Chittagong Port on June 24 after unloading 32 containers of weapons and military vehicles. The unloading was supervised by a UN designated local shipping agent called Sun Shine Business Limited,” he said.

He said the ship was carrying decommissioned weapons used by Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Nepalese UN peacekeeping contingents.

On Saturday West Bengal police director general Bhupinder Singh told AFP that authorities also suspected the weaponry had been used in a UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia.

The UN sent 15,000 troops into Liberia in 2003 after 14 years of civil war that claimed roughly 270,000 lives.

In April, the UN peacekeeping force in Liberia (UNMIL) began scaling back its presence after a UN and government assessment in 2007 that the country was gradually moving towards peace and stability.

The 153-metre-long Panama-registered ship was detained following an intelligence tip-off, police said.

DAWN.COM | World | Arms on Pakistan-bound ship from UN mission: Bangladesh

 

[asq]

After seeing the facts Indians should say sorry for jumping to conclusions when it come to Pakistan, Attitude shows the real Indian feelings about Pakistan. A sheer disrespect.

If they have any conviction to fair play as they keep on insisting on this forum, than they should apologize.

Cupish dudes.

 

[RescueRanger]

The ship was returning decommissioned weapons used by Pakistani peacekeepers during a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Liberia, Bangladesh armed forces spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Kazi Kabirul Islam said in a statement.

Enough said, what is there to quiz?

 

[Dr.Evil]

Enough said, what is there to quiz?

Taking the ship out without the manifest declared is illegal.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

Enough said, what is there to quiz?

@RescueRanger,
i think some issues need to be understood, if we keep aside the nationality of the ship, nationality of the owners of the cargo (shippers), nationality of receivers of the cargo (consignees), nationality of the port of transit/port of detention (Port State).
Transportation of goods by sea are governed by international laws, treaties and conventions. If any cargo (be it diapers, or be it ammunition) is carried on board a ship it has to be correctly manifested/ declared. If it is not correctly manifested/declared, it can be treated as contraband and dealt with accordingly- i.e. it may be liable to confiscation along with the ship itself. Let me give some examples: a ship with an undeclared cargo of cigarettes has been impounded in the past (not in India). On the other hand, a ship with a declared cargo of 'Heroin' is going to be impounded, regardless of the fact that the cargo was declared. Can you guess what would happen to a ship carrying an undeclared cargo of Scotch Whisky from UK to Australia calling at Jeddah enroute?! But if the cargo was declared, the ship would be allowed to depart from Jeddah unhampered.
Merchant ships are at all times subject to inspection in ports (either destination or transit) or in territorial waters of any country. This is mandated under Commercial Laws- not Military Laws. In time of war, different rules may apply; needless to say - more stringent ones. The only ships that may be exempted are Naval Ships. But Naval Ships on the other hand, are not automatically entitled to the Right of Innocent passage.
The ship in this instance, happens to be a Merchant Ship so all these rules apply. If it was a cargo of 'diapers' or 'potatoes' for instance the actions would not have been reported in the press, the scope for action would still have existed but would have been of a different tenor.
Then there is another international convention- the ISPS convention, which applies here. This convention mandates requirements of some declarations by ships to Port States to forestall the possibility that a ship is carrying weapons or becomes a weapon itself. This comes under Security Laws in addition to the Commercial Laws.
This matter of this ship concerned comes under the ambit of these laws and regulations.
If this ship had arrived at Karachi with the same cargo in the same circumstances, and bound for Kolkata, same rules would apply and GOP would have acted in like fashion and rightly so.
Suggest you go through the other thread on this subject. There are some posts there that help explain things better, esp by 'Old School'.

Hope that helps to put things into perspective.

 

[asq]

Taking the ship out without the manifest declared is illegal.

And blaming Pakistan for it is despicable. to top it of, long winded lectures to boot.

 

[Dr.Evil]

And blaming Pakistan for it is despicable. to top it of, long winded lectures to boot.

Where did you get that idea from, No one is blaming pakistan. the only people responsible would be shipping agents and the ships captain.

 

[asq]

so u wrote this here telling us that shipping agents in Bangladesh are to be blamed.
what that has got to do with

And if u read clearly all the posts by Indians it clearly blames Pakistan tiil Taimi khan cleared things up.

Read and decipher.

 

[Dr.Evil]

so u wrote this here telling us that shipping agents in Bangladesh are to be blamed.
what that has got to do with

And if u read clearly all the posts by Indians it clearly blames Pakistan tiil Taimi khan cleared things up.

Read and decipher.

Bhai saab go and check the other thread, I have nothing more to add on this.

 

[asq]

what other thread. please elaborate.

 

[Neither Right Nor Wrong]

Enough said, what is there to quiz?

Ship is in violation of International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code(IMDG)

As the ship was carrying Class 1 IMDG cargo, It needs to inform the Port authority concerned:

Cargo's Loading Port

Discharge Port

Content of the Cargo along with the IMDG Class it belongs to.

Total tonnage of IMDG cargo on board

Position of the container/s on the ship ..wrt bay/row/column.

If minimum segregation dist from non IMDG cargo is being followed.

These are few min. requirements, which need to be followed before carriage of IMDG into port limits is allowed.

This info is essential in case , if there is accidental fire on board and onshore fire fighting team has to fight it .
or
there is accidental discharge of the container at wrong port.

Punishment for non conformity is-

Ships IMDG license can be withdrawn.
Ship company can be fined.
Capt of ship can be imprisoned.
Capt of the ship can be arrested and ship along with it cargo can be detained.

Violation of maritime laws is gave offence and the punishments are preety harsh.

This reminds me of an incident in South Korea.

Recently a MSC ship with Indian capt. was anchored in South Korean waters, while at anchor. An oil barge came and collided with it. Due to collision there was an oil spill from the barge.

Although no fault of his, the capt. of the ship is still in South Korean prison .It has been more than an year since the incident ,he is still in South Korea fighting his case.

His relatives came to a Maritime conference held in Chennai, were asking for financial help for him to able to plead his case in South Korea.

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

After seeing the facts Indians should say sorry for jumping to conclusions when it come to Pakistan, Attitude shows the real Indian feelings about Pakistan. A sheer disrespect.

If they have any conviction to fair play as they keep on insisting on this forum, than they should apologize.

Cupish dudes.

we dont need them to apologize. Its hard not to instead keep laughing at them.

de-commissioned weapons?