Genuine Merchandise Aboard Detained North Korean Vessel
Three days after the Coast Guard detained MV Musan, a suspicious North Korean merchant vessel off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta has said that the “North Korean vessel had no business being there.”
The vessel had dropped anchor barely five km off Hut Bay Island in Little Andaman without any authorization on Thursday.
The Coast Guard made several attempts to establish contact with the vessel. But instead of responding, Musan attempted to escape, triggering suspicions over its intent and cargo.
Mehta said: “The North Korean vessel had no business being there. It complied with our orders only after we fired shots in the air.”
The suspect ship, with 39 sailors onboard, was escorted to Port Blair for further investigations on August 6.
During interrogation the Musan skipper said the vessel had anchored due to a mechanical fault.
Mehta said the Navy and Coast Guard apprehended that the ship could be carrying suspicious cargo (nuclear material), but added that from all available indications, MV Musan was only carrying “genuine merchandise”.
(Internet Inputs)
