MV Captain Ali under heavy scrutiny

by Jayampathy JAYASINGHE

Following the interception of the controversial merchant vessel “Captain Ali” by the Sri Lanka Navy, the ship was intercepted and escorted to a Naval facility in Panadura where a thorough check is being done to identify its cargo, the Naval Media spokesman Captain D. K. P. Dassanayake told the Sunday Observer.

He said the vessel had arrived in the territorial waters of Sri Lanka without adhering to the maritime procedure.

“Permission of the Sri Lanka Government was not sought to enter Sri Lanka waters.” The search was not over as yet and the Navy was looking for any concealed armaments in the ship. The vessel was carrying 800 metric tons of cargo including food, water and medicine but nothing incriminating has been found so far, Captain Dassanayake said.

He said the ship was carrying a 15-member crew and a native from Iceland who had previously worked for the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM).

The crew and the native from Iceland have been detained for further interrogation.

The vessel flying a Syrian flag was intercepted by the Sri Lanka Navy about 100 miles west of Colombo. The captain of the ship was a Syrian national carrying relief supplies for civilians in the North.

“We have been monitoring the movements of a vessel named Vanangaman, a suspected LTTE ship that sailed from the U.K. and subsequently arrived in France in April,” Captain Dassanayake said. The ship suddenly changed its course and arrived in France where it off loaded its cargo. Later the cargo was transferred to another ship named Captain Ali that commenced its voyage from France in early May.

“Incidentally, the Iceland national, an LTTE sympathiser had been responsible for bringing the cargo to Sri Lanka”, he said.

The Sri Lanka Navy closely monitored the movements of the rogue ship from various sources until it arrived in Sri Lanka.