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Europe
Ship Captain Explains Detour to Greece
2003-06-25
EFL
A ship captain whose huge cargo of seized explosives raised fears of a terrorist plot claimed Wednesday he had expected to sail to Sudan but the vessel's Irish owners ordered him to an obscure Greek port. Capt. Anatoliy Baltak of Ukraine and his six-member crew are charged with entering Greek territorial waters without informing officials of the load of 750 tons of ammonium nitrate-based explosives and detonators. "I didn't think I was doing something illegal," Baltak said after being questioned by a magistrate for nearly 90 minutes. "It didn't even cross my mind that terrorism was an issue."
"I vas only following orders!"
Investigators were hoping Baltak would shed light on some of the main mysteries: Was the cargo legal and why did the ship linger for nearly six weeks at sea instead of directly delivering the shipment to its alleged buyers in Sudan? Baltak told reporters he took command of ship June 3 in Istanbul, Turkey, and had documents for the explosives, which were loaded May 12 in Tunisia. He said he anchored the ship in Turkey's Dardanelles strait near the Aegean Sea to await orders on when to proceed to Sudan from the vessel's "real owners," whom he identified as Christian McNulty of Ireland.
Now what would an Irishman be doing with a shipload of explosives?
"Faith! That load was supposed to be for Harrad's!"
But he said telex orders came on June 20 to cancel the Sudan journey and head for the little-used Ionian Sea port of Astakos, about 145 miles northwest of Athens. The vessel is currently in the adjacent harbor of Platiyali. He did not know the reason for the change and said he believed the owners had notified Greek authorities of the new course. "The ship owner is responsible for everything," Baltak said.
"I know nothing, nothing!"
"Tell them, Hogan!"
Shipping documents say the vessel is controlled by a company in the tiny Pacific Island nation of Marshall Islands. But several maritime sources, including the authoritative Lloyd's List shipping register, have linked McNulty with a Sligo, Ireland-based company, Unithorn Ltd., which is listed as the ship's manager. McNulty is associated with a string of problem-plagued shipping firms over the years, reports said. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach McNulty or Unithorn were unsuccessful.
Seems to be a lot of that going on.
Wonder if he's taken delivery of any 727s lately?
Greek Merchant Marine Minister Giorgos Anomeritis said the ship's owner has not come forward. "The questions are many," he told reporters Wednesday. "I don't understand the interest of some people that after 41 days - during which the ship could have sunk or exploded - no one who was responsible for informing international authorities gave any information about this ship."
It's called "going to ground".
Anomeritis described the ship as "black" — referring to its murky ownership and its Comoros registration, which offers low taxes and lax regulations. "A ship with a black flag went to the Black Sea with a black company ... all these black things should be investigated," he said.
Be careful with those black remarks, you'll get a call from the Rev. Jackson.
Posted by:Steve

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