Greek reveals circumstances of Turkish ship seized with explosives

Greek Coast Guard officer reveals circumstances of Turkish ship seized with explosives destined for Misrata:

LIBYA – The Greek Coast Guard said that the material seized on the Turkish ship destined for Libya “had serious consequences for people as well as for the marine environment.”

“The explosives were being sending from Turkey to Libya,” said Admiral Yannis Argerio, head of the Greek Coast Guard’s Security and General Command, during his presentation of the seized materials on the ship.

“On a specific mission and after a coordinated operation, we arrested the members of the Andromeda ship and its crew, a Tanzanian-flagged vessel, and after inspection it St. Nicolaus Crete area, we found 29 containers of explosives ranging from lighters, ammonium nitrate to be used to build bombs to carry out terrorist acts” the Admiral added.

Admiral Arguerio confirmed that the ship’s crew consisted of eight people, two Ukrainians, five Indians and an Albanian. He said that during the initial investigation, the captain had instructed to sail to Misrata port in Libya and not to Djibouti and Oman, although the ship’s bill of lading, mentioned the cargo had been loaded in the Turkish ports of Mersin and Iskenderun and had been destined for Djibouti and Oman…

The Greek official said: “Despite the examination of the ship’s book prepared on December 18, did not specify the sea maps prepared for the ship any maps of sailing to Djibouti and Oman, the two countries supposedly paper as a destination for cargo, noting that there is a collective obligation prohibits the transfer and sale of weapons and explosives To Libya, which can be used for violence in that country. ”

Admiral Arguerio revealed that the cargo had been seized while it was found that the vessel that had been taken to the port of Heraklion was aware of serious shortcomings in its seaworthiness and thus jeopardized crew safety.

“The crew of the Andromeda shipping company is expected to arrive Thursday at the prosecutor’s office in the Greek city of Piraeus, where it is expected to take time to investigate”, the agency said.