Authorities have seized a Tanzanian-flagged ship heading for Libya and carrying materials used to make explosives, according to the Greek coastguard.

The vessel “Andromeda” was detected sailing near Aghios Nikolaos, on the island of Crete on Saturday. Authorities found 29 containers carrying materials including ammonium nitrate, non-electric detonators and 11 empty liquefied petroleum gas tanks.

“The materials were headed to Libya,” Rear Admiral Ioannis Argiriou told reporters. He said the material could be used “for all sorts of work, from work in quarries to making bombs, and acts of terrorism”.

According to the ship’s bill of lading, the cargo had been loaded in the Turkish ports of Mersin and Iskenderum and was destined for Djibouti and Oman.

But the coastguard said a preliminary investigation found the captain had been ordered by the vessel’s owner to sail to the Libyan city of Misrata to unload and deliver the entire cargo.

The ship’s cargo was seized and the ship was led to Heraklion port, outside the island’s capital, where a preliminary review proved 102 serious violations of the safety code endangering the lives of the ship’s crew.

European Union and United Nations-imposed arms embargoes have prohibited the sale, supply or transfer of arms to Libya since 2011.

No shipping maps were found on the ship’s logbook for the Djibouti and Oman areas, the coastguard said.

Source: Theo Ioannou/greekreporter.com