Wednesday, 23 June 2010

Ship with Russian-Ukrainian crew and arms for Sudan detained in Cyprus

A German dry-cargo vessel, the Santiago, with a Russian-Ukrainian crew, carrying weapons, presumably intended for Sudan, has been stopped in Cyprus, the online Maritime Bulletin Sovfracht reported on Wednesday.

The vessel anchored at Limassol, it said.

The ship departed from Norway and called at ports in Britain and at Gibraltar. From Sudan it was to head to Singapore.

It was carrying explosives and tanks. The tanks were presumably intended for Singapore.

The Santiago called at Cyprus for refueling. It was to be moved to the port to be checked, but when explosives were discovered, it was left in the anchorage area.

Cyprus officially announced the ship had been detained on June 22.

The nine-member crew was comprised of four Russians and five Ukrainians.

The Antigua-flagged Santiago was built in 1997 and has a deadweight of 3,525 tonnes. The German company Briese Schiffahrts GmbH & Co. KG is its operator and owner.


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