On Friday the Coast Guard reported that it had intercepted the Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship “Nour M”, near the Imia islets and led it to the port of Rhodes for further investigation. Due to the ship’s peculiar course, the authorities suspected illegal activities.
According to the Ministry of Shipping, the documentation recovered from the ship suggests that 56 of the 59 shipping containers on-board contain 20,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles and ammunition. The ship appears to have departed from a port in the Ukraine, with Syria believed to have been its ultimate destination. The ship’s 8-member crew has been detained in Rhodes for further questioning.
The containers will be opened and examined in the presence of a prosecutor and customs authorities. The Minister of Shipping Miltiadis Varvitsiotis and the Chief of the Coast Guard Dimitris Bandias are constantly updated on the progress of investigations and are heading to Rhodes via helicopter to oversee the investigations.
