Suspicious ship seized in Kenyan waters
What you need to know:
- Mombasa County Police Commander Sevelino Kubai said the ship was one of two vessels being monitored by security agencies
- Coast head of the Marine Unit, Mr Stanley Lamai confirmed that 10 crew members were being questioned.
Kenyan authorities are holding a merchant ship intercepted on Wednesday night on suspicion it was transporting illegal cargo.
The Mv Alnoor was seized in Lamu as it sailed towards Mombasa.
Mombasa County Police Commander Sevelino Kubai said the ship was one of two vessels being monitored by security agencies after they set sail from Somalia.
He said Kenyan authorities had received information about ships suspected to be used for smuggling firearms and drugs and managed to intercept one of them.
Mr Kubai said the two ships had originated from Pakistan but entered Somalia under unclear circumstances.
“We intercepted one of the ships in Lamu which had 10 crew members from different nationalities and it was escorted to Mombasa under tight security. The Kenya Navy handed it over to police for further investigations,” he said.
Senior police and Navy officers inspected the heavily guarded vessel at the Port of Mombasa on Thursday.
DOCUMENTS RAISED SUSPICION
Mr Kubai said its documents indicate that the vessel was en-route to Zanzibar.
He said further scrutiny of the ship’s manifest showed that the goods “were loaded in Mombasa and destined for Kenya”.
“The documents from the ship reflect that the consignment was loaded in Kenya and that they were destined to Kenya. This raises suspicions,” he said.
Speaking to the media after a security meeting on the matter, Mr Kubai said the ship is laden with 150 bags of cement which the crew claims originated from Yemen.
“We are currently offloading the consignment for further verification with the help of an anti-narcotics team from Nairobi,” he said.
Coast head of the Marine Unit, Mr Stanley Lamai confirmed that 10 crew members — seven Pakistanis, two Indians and one Iranian — were being questioned.
Drug kingpins are believed to have smuggled 1,032 kilogrammes of heroin worth Sh27 billion that was seized and destroyed off the Kenyan coast in May this year.
The Australian warship HMAS Darwin that was on patrol, stumbled on the vessel carrying the drugs. Soldiers on the ship impounded the drugs and destroyed them at sea.
