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Ship Allegedly Carrying Arms to Syria Stopped for Inspection

RIA Novosti

15:57 18/04/2012 ANKARA, April 18 (RIA Novosti) - The Turkish maritime authorities stopped a German-owned, Bermuda-flagged vessel for inspection on Wednesday following reports that it may be transporting Iranian weapons to Syria in violation of a European Union arms embargo, Turkish-language media reported.

The German Der Spiegel magazine reported last week that the Atlantic Cruiser ship, owned by German company Bockstiegel, had allegedly picked up heavy military equipment and munitions meant for the Syrian regime from an Iranian freighter at Port of Djibouti.

“Defectors from inside the Syrian government had learned of the delivery and warned the shipping company,” the report said.

The ship was reported to have stopped about 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of the Syrian port of Tartus, its initial destination, on Friday, before disappearing from sight for around 24 hours, switching off its tracking system, which the company owner said was due to the crew’s fear of “being attacked.”

The vessel then changed course for Turkey’s port of Iskenderun. The Turkish authorities are currently inspecting the vessel in the port, the CNN-Turk television channel said.

A Ukrainian company that chartered the ship has strongly dismissed allegations about weapons on its board.

“I assert that there is nothing illegal on board, including weapons and munitions,” the Varamar company’s executive director, Oleksandr Varvarenko, was quoted by Russian daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta as saying.

He said the ship was carrying electronic equipment intended for construction projects in Syria, as well as mining equipment intended for Turkey and Montenegro.

“What the German media have reported is untrue,” he added.

The German company was quoted by Reuters as saying that it “has no current knowledge that the ship's cargo contains anything other than what was described in the documentation as civilian goods.”

The German authorities have launched an investigation into the report.