Maritime Press Clippings 2012 - Hydrex Underwater Technology

DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2012 – 209The BOURBON FRONT arriving at the River Tyne bound for Swan-Hunter, Wallsend – Photo : Kevin Blair ©Iran ship with explosives on way to KenyaA vessel suspected to have shipped into Kenya the powder making explosive-Cyclotrimethylene Trinitramine isexpected to dock at the port of Mombasa anytime this week, again. The MV Padriz has also been at the centre ofpossible US sanctions over Iran-owned vessels, which are said to be re-flagged to mask their ownership.Sources confirmed to the Star that the vessel has so far made 23 calls to the port of Mombasa, on a monthly basis,and it was during one of those calls that the vessel was carrying the RDX, which has been linked to the two Iraniansfacing terrorism charges, Ahmad Mohammed and Sayed Mousavi The Star recently reported that the manifest of MVPadriz apparently confirmed that six security officers and another nine crew members were on board the vessel, whichwas carrying about 200 containers when it last docked at the port with the explosives.However, the Iran government has dismissed the reports that the ship allegedly owned by the Pacific Island nation,Tuvalu, was used to sneak into the country dangerous explosive materials that were impounded in Mombasa. Iranianambassador to Kenya Malek Hossein Givzad claims the information is ''false and aimed at further tarnishing itsinternational image in wide propaganda by US, Israel and some European Union (EU) states' According to the police,the 15 kilogramme RDX was impounded at a Console base warehouse situated in Changamwe on June 20 after it wasallegedly shipped into the country by MV Pardis from Iran. Speaking to the Star on the phone, Givzad said they havenot contracted any of its vessels to do any shipping of its (oil) products in East Africa.Yesterday, the Star further established that the container in which the explosives were impounded had its numberchanged over three times, making it difficult for security detectives to pinpoint the consignment. The vessel has beendocking in Kenya to deliver containerized goods, which are categorized as mechanical and farm inputs, according toofficials. The 14 days shipping schedule of the Kenya Ports Authority indicated that the vessel is expected to dock thisweek on 25th July, and will discharge 352 containers, and load 718. The shipping agents in Kenya are Seven SeasShipping Agency (K) Ltd, (SSA) whose officials from the imports department confirmed that it may instead dockaround 28th July this year. “What we can confirm is that the ship is a containerized vessel, as opposed to either lose orbulk cargo or a tanker/oil,” said the official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.The official also revealed that the vessel is now registered in Zanzibar, and owned by Arabs. “It docks at the port everyonce per month and was here last on June 11th this year, plus as a requirement, it has to fly the Kenyan flag,” hesaid. Under the KPA’s list of expected vessels, the container vessel, Pardis, had its vessel scheduled as ‘Pard 2012-0905, call sign 5IM540, voy no SAS 0024’. SAS 0024 would mean that it will be its 24th trip to the country.The vessel under the 14 days list was booked on 30th of June this year. Other sources in the imports businessconfirmed that it docked on May 23rd, this year, it being its 22nd trip to the country, and it discharged 332 containersand loaded 838 containers. “In normal cases, the same shipping company should handle the vessel, and a report onDistribution : daily to 22500+ active addresses 27-07-2012 Page 8