saw this news recently not sure if this was publish on the
ST. It seemed that it passes thru Singapore. I wonder if the
maritime authority knew about it.
Wary India frisks North Korean
freighter
By Sreeram Chaulia
After the international suspense thriller in June over the
movements of the North Korean cargo ship Kang Nam I ended
with the freighter beating a retreat and returning home, an equally
intriguing case has emerged off the southern coast of India.
Another North Korean vessel, the Mu San, is currently in
the custody of Indian authorities after it dropped anchor without
permission at Hut Bay, the entry point to India's Andaman and
Nicobar Islands on August 6.
If the case of Kang Nam I was curious, the Mu San
has its own mysteries that are deepening by the day. When the ship
first approached Andaman and Nicobar, India's coast guards sent an
aircraft overhead to communicate, but the North Koreans refused to
respond.
A Coast Guard ship then tailed it and found that the 39 North
Korean sailors on board were unwilling to halt. On being
approached, the Mu San attempted to escape and Indian
authorities fired in the air. After a tense six-hour chase, the
ship finally "obeyed" and was dragged to the nearby city of Port
Blair for inspection.
According to the captured sailors, the ship was carrying 16,500
tons of sugar bound for Iraq - a fact confirmed by searching its
contents. One theory being bandied about is that the craft decided
to dock in India for purely commercial reasons after learning that
New Delhi had just announced zero import duties on sugar, a
commodity that has fallen short this year due to a failed crop.
Sugar as merchandise on the high seas is a seemingly innocuous
mission, except that the ship's crew frequently changed their
versions when interrogated.
The claim that they came to make a quick killing on eased tariffs
did not dovetail with the other assertion of the ship's captain
that they changed direction towards the Andaman Islands because of
"mechanical failure". Moreover, the other stops the vessel made
along the way were erratic and suspicious.
Indian officials have learned that the Mu San
docked unscheduled in Singapore without following the
routine passport
stamping procedure. Investigators also say that
the same ship had in the past "made several voyages between North Korea and China
without maintaining proper records".
As North Korea's nuclear program - which is now a matter of global
concern and subject to United Nations sanctions - has been a
beneficiary of Chinese technology and materiel transfer, India's
military and civilian intelligence agencies rushed to the site
where the Mu San is being held.