Karachi-bound ship carrying explosives intercepted

[Old School]

The Cargo Manifest handed over to port authorities by ship's agent should have the entire list of Dangerous Cargo(DC) along with their loading and discharge port mentioned.
In this case ..DC belong to Class 1 - Explosives

The container carrying DC should be marked with

On all 4 sides of the coantainer.

You are right. There can not be any excuse . These containers were neither marked as C1 nor mentioned in the ISPS protocol. The shipping licence of this Ship MV Aegean Glory is going to be revoked for sure.

 

[Neither Right Nor Wrong]

You are right. There can not be any excuse . These containers were neither marked as C1 nor mentioned in the ISPS protocol. The shipping licence of this Ship MV Aegean Glory is going to be revoked for sure.

I think the ship can be heavily fined, where as Master's Certificate of Competency(COC) can be revoked, cargo, along with the vessel can be detained.

 

[Old School]

I think the ship can be heavily fined, where as Master's Certificate of Competency(COC) can be revoked, where as cargo, along with the vessel can be detained.

We need to crackdown on this malpractice of merchant shipping line being used as logistical tool for the terrorists and narcotic rackets. It will also require crackdown on heavily corrupt officials of some countries by their respective governments. This can not continue indefinitely. I can still remember the infamous 2004, 10 truck arms cache case in Chittagong or the Purulia arms dropping case where merchant shipping was used by the terrorists with assistance from some government/military officials.

 

[Neither Right Nor Wrong]

Well, usually the port authorities have neither the capability nor the means to track the trade and contents 6 million/day..These busts are usually byproducts of lucky intelligence tip offs or vigilant ship crews...In fact the crew of the ship usually has no idea, what the contents of a particular container are.

A ship does not receive the cargo manifest for a non- DC marked container..so the owner of the container does not declare , the container is carrying DC ..there is no way of knowing, whats in it..coz container are sealed shut at loading dock itself and seal is not broken till it reaches it destination and Bill of lading is exchanged.

 

[Old School]

Detained ship was carrying arms for Pak army
A Karachi-bound ship was detained mid-sea near Kolkata on Friday evening. It was reportedly carrying hundreds of tonnes of military hardware and explosives belonging to personnel of the Nepal Police and the Pakistan Army, who had already returned from peacekeeping assignments in Liberia.

As confusion prevailed on Saturday over the " arms haul", it emerged that the cargo vessel registered in St Vincent set sail from Monrovia in Liberia and stopped at Chittagong in Bangladesh, where arms belonging to the Bangladesh Army was offloaded. Bangladeshi soldiers were also serving in the troubletorn West African nation.

The ship was supposed to offload the arms of the Nepal Police in Kolkata before sailing for Karachi with military hardware of the Pakistan Army.

Aegean Glory, loaded with 551 metric tonnes of arms and explosives, was detained by the Indian Coast Guards and the navy south-west of Diamond Harbour in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district.

A pilot vessel from the Kolkata Port Trust (KPT) apparently found that two containers onboard were without valid authorisation. The captain of the ship said the containers had antiaircraft guns and rocket launchers, besides a huge quantity of ammunition and smoke bombs, and were meant to be offloaded in Karachi.

The Coast Guards immediately took control of the ship. According to international maritime rules, ships need to inform the port in advance about the contents which are not meant for off loading there.

It also has to file documents with the customs import general manifest with the port authorities. The ship, it had appeared, didn't follow any of these rules.

The West Bengal Police swung into action and picked up the captain of the cargo vessel. He was grilled by a team of the police, customs and the Intelligence Bureau. "The vessel was towed to the Kolkata port for further investigations," KPT director Ajay Ranade said.

"The ship didn't have necessary clearance to carry arms and explosives into the Indian waters," Surajit Kar Purkayastha, IG (law and order), said.

The Bengal police are on their toes about movement of arms consignments since they were caught unawares in the Purulia arms drop case when illegal arms were dropped from a Latvian aircraft in Purulia district on December 17, 1995.

However, senior intelligence officials later claimed the consignment was legitimate, and the confusion generated was primarily because of a " procedural lapse" of both the shipping company and the Kolkata- based handling agent Crystal Shipping.

The arms meant for the Nepal Police would be unloaded in Kolkata, according to Bhupindar Singh, DG, Bengal. "The customs and the police will study the documents of the ship and will act according to law," Singh said.

The Indian Tricolour on the ship was found fluttering upside down. The mistake was later rectified.
Source

 

[Imran Khan]

ohhhhhhhhh damn who send these arms to karachi we have to got him.abut india its nice to see some thing but looking more propegenda bro. also its fallout of saarc ?

 

[Markus]

Well Thanks to Indian Navy otherwise Talibans would have gotten new supply of weapons against Pakistan Army.

Yes, this certainly looks like that Taliban is tired of bombing that Pakistan Air Force is conducting and they decided to get back to them in big time. The presence of anti aircraft guns definitely points in that direction.

This must be interrogated thoroughly and quickly. Port customs have done a good job.

 

[Imran Khan]

so these arms were from UN mission which is done now arms were going back to nepal and pakistan but only problim is no proper papers and documents.

 

[Arjun MBT]

good that we Intercepted it, lets wait for The report....

 

[Old School]

let us wait for the report because the UNMIL mission neither use AAG nor RPG in Liberia. They are waiting for the list to arrive from Monrovia which has details of the consignment.

 

[ice_man]

Detained ship was carrying arms for Pak army
A Karachi-bound ship was detained mid-sea near Kolkata on Friday evening. It was reportedly carrying hundreds of tonnes of military hardware and explosives belonging to personnel of the Nepal Police and the Pakistan Army, who had already returned from peacekeeping assignments in Liberia.

As confusion prevailed on Saturday over the " arms haul", it emerged that the cargo vessel registered in St Vincent set sail from Monrovia in Liberia and stopped at Chittagong in Bangladesh, where arms belonging to the Bangladesh Army was offloaded. Bangladeshi soldiers were also serving in the troubletorn West African nation.

The ship was supposed to offload the arms of the Nepal Police in Kolkata before sailing for Karachi with military hardware of the Pakistan Army.

Aegean Glory, loaded with 551 metric tonnes of arms and explosives, was detained by the Indian Coast Guards and the navy south-west of Diamond Harbour in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district.

A pilot vessel from the Kolkata Port Trust (KPT) apparently found that two containers onboard were without valid authorisation. The captain of the ship said the containers had antiaircraft guns and rocket launchers, besides a huge quantity of ammunition and smoke bombs, and were meant to be offloaded in Karachi.

The Coast Guards immediately took control of the ship. According to international maritime rules, ships need to inform the port in advance about the contents which are not meant for off loading there.

It also has to file documents with the customs import general manifest with the port authorities. The ship, it had appeared, didn't follow any of these rules.

The West Bengal Police swung into action and picked up the captain of the cargo vessel. He was grilled by a team of the police, customs and the Intelligence Bureau. "The vessel was towed to the Kolkata port for further investigations," KPT director Ajay Ranade said.

"The ship didn't have necessary clearance to carry arms and explosives into the Indian waters," Surajit Kar Purkayastha, IG (law and order), said.

The Bengal police are on their toes about movement of arms consignments since they were caught unawares in the Purulia arms drop case when illegal arms were dropped from a Latvian aircraft in Purulia district on December 17, 1995.

However, senior intelligence officials later claimed the consignment was legitimate, and the confusion generated was primarily because of a " procedural lapse" of both the shipping company and the Kolkata- based handling agent Crystal Shipping.

The arms meant for the Nepal Police would be unloaded in Kolkata, according to Bhupindar Singh, DG, Bengal. "The customs and the police will study the documents of the ship and will act according to law," Singh said.

The Indian Tricolour on the ship was found fluttering upside down. The mistake was later rectified.
Source

now we know the highlighted part so stop the drama!!!! these were legitimate arms!! now stop the propaganda!!!

 

[sparklingway]

‘Arms on Pak-bound ship may be from UN’​

Monday, June 28, 2010
KOLKATA: An arms-laden ship bound for Pakistan and detained by Indian authorities may have been carrying decommissioned weaponry from a UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia, the Indian police said on Sunday.

The police made the statement as the ship, detained on Friday by the Indian authorities, was brought to the port of Kolkata in West Bengal state from Diamond Harbour, 50 kilometres south of the city.

The police said earlier the MV Aegean Glory, bound for Karachi, contained a “huge quantity” of explosives, rocket launchers, anti-aircraft guns and some bombs in two large containers.

The ship “may have been carrying decommissioned weaponry that was being used by troops in a UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia,” West Bengal Police Director General Bhupinder Singh told AFP.

“The ship was apparently chartered by the UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia. It seems the military hardware was being deinducted and sent back as three separate consignments to Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan.”

A team from India’s intelligence agency had arrived in Kolkata to check the cargo, the police said. Indian intelligence officials have contacted the UN peacekeeping officials in New York to obtain detailed information about the ship, West Bengal Police Inspector General Surojit Karpurokayastha said.

“The military hardware was loaded onto the ship in Monrovia port in Liberia” and the ship set sail on May 17, Karpurokayastha told AFP. The detained ship, which has 20 crew members, including its Greek captain, had sailed from Monrovia to Mauritius and on to Chittagong in Bangladesh before making for Diamond Harbour, he said.

Kolkata is often used to unload shipments for landlocked neighbour Nepal, the police said. Karpurokayastha said the vessel was next due to sail for Karachi. The 153-metre- (500-foot-) long Panama-registered ship was detained following an intelligence tip-off, the police said.

‘Ship stopped without any justification’​

Monday, June 28, 2010
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has strongly reacted to seizing of a ship by India carrying United Nations cargo for Pakistan and Bangladesh, which was being used by the UN Peacekeeping missions.

Commenting on the incident, Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said so far Pakistan has not been conveyed anything officially about the stopping of the cargo ship. He, however, said: “The ship coming from Liberia carrying cargo was being used by the United Nations Peacekeeping Missions which has been stopped by India without any justification.”

The spokesman added that the UN cargo includes APCs destined for many countries, including Bangladesh and Pakistan. He said: “The ship left Bangladesh after offloading their stuff and was also to anchor at Pakistan to offload our consignment.”

The spokesman said there was nothing out of the ordinary in this ship and added that unnecessary hype had been created around a perfectly legitimate UN cargo. He further said the APCs were in use of Pakistani troops, who are part of UN Peacekeeping Mission in Liberia.

 

[Neither Right Nor Wrong]

Question is, why wasn't the DC container declared on the cargo manifest??..Could be a genuine mistake, but then ship is liable to be fined heavily.

 

[Old School]

Question is, why wasn't the DC container declared on the cargo manifest??..Could be a genuine mistake, but then ship is liable to be fined heavily.

We do not know how they got clearance from CTG port without proper documentations prior to sail en route to Kolkata. The confusion could have been avoided if the Bangladesh Port officials looked into this matter at the first place.
People learn better when it involves money. There is sufficient ground to fine this ship. We can not get in to diplomatic crisis for some paper error.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

‘Arms on Pak-bound ship may be from UN’


‘Ship stopped without any justification’​

Monday, June 28, 2010
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has strongly reacted to seizing of a ship by India carrying United Nations cargo for Pakistan and Bangladesh, which was being used by the UN Peacekeeping missions.

Commenting on the incident, Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said so far Pakistan has not been conveyed anything officially about the stopping of the cargo ship. He, however, said: “The ship coming from Liberia carrying cargo was being used by the United Nations Peacekeeping Missions which has been stopped by India without any justification.”

The spokesman added that the UN cargo includes APCs destined for many countries, including Bangladesh and Pakistan. He said: “The ship left Bangladesh after offloading their stuff and was also to anchor at Pakistan to offload our consignment.”

The spokesman said there was nothing out of the ordinary in this ship and added that unnecessary hype had been created around a perfectly legitimate UN cargo. He further said the APCs were in use of Pakistani troops, who are part of UN Peacekeeping Mission in Liberia.

The cargo (all or part)belongs to the UN (actually belongs to a force seconded to the UN). THE SHIP DOES'NT BELONG TO THE UN. It belongs to a ship-owner in some part of the world, whose antecedents are unknown. (BTW, the ship was not flying a UN flag).
On any ship if there is any undeclared cargo on board, even if it is 'diapers' it is a matter for investigation. If it is weapons of any kind that is far more serious. Any prudent and vigilant Govt. should check thoroughly. How it escaped the Bangladeshi authorities attention is another matter.
Mr. Abdul Basit is standing on weak ground here. Rather, he could've notified the Indian Govt. in the first instance about the ownership and destination of the cargo. Let me give you an example, military weapons, even nuclear reactor fuel passes on cargo ships through the Suez Canal. The Govts. concerned routinely inform the Egyptian Govt. in advance . There are no problems.
If a similar situation had occurred in Karachi port, GOP would've been well within their rights to detain the ship and investigate the cargo. Better to be safe than sorry.
As it is we live in uncertain times.