INTERCEPTION OF MERCHANT VESSEL AL MURTADA
The claim by the owner of
the Lebanese Merchant Vessel "Al Murtada" that
the vessel was captured by Somali militia from January to June
this year appears to be false as a Canadian Warship had boarded
the vessel on March 06 this year and no sign of militia was observed
on board.
It has also come to light
that the vessel was sighted adrift by US Navy on June 16 this
year about 700 miles West off Ratnagiri and crew was rescued.
The rescued crew was put on board of another merchant Ship Stolt
Spray and this ship reached Kandla on 18th of last
month. As per available information, the sixteen member crew of
Al Murtada consisted of two Lebanese (including captain),
four Syrians, six Somalis and four Indians.
Al Murtada was
sighted by a Merchant Vessel 155 km west off Ratnagiri in the
Western Coast on third of this month and the matter was reported
to Coast Guard. The Ship was brought to Devgarh on July 05, 2002
and two AK 47 Rifles were recovered from the Ship. Today on further
search three AK 47 Rifle Magazines with 74 rounds of live ammunition
were recovered from it. The matter is being looked into by different
Investigation Agencies.
