Vessel seized for carrying weapons owned by Greek company

ATHENS

A weapon-laden ship seized by the Greek coast guard appears to belong to a Greek-owned company, according to a daily published Kathimerini newspaper in Greece.

The newspaper said that the owner and the operator of the Bolivian-flagged Haddad were registered at a Greece company in Piraeus, a port city of Greece. 

The company have owned the ship since February 2015, the newspaper added.

The Bolivian-flagged MV Haddad-1 was stopped off the coast of Crete, according to a report by the Athens News Agency on Tuesday. The Lebanon-bound vessel, which left the southern Turkish port of Iskenderun on Aug. 29, was said to be carrying an unknown quantity of undeclared weapons.

Members of the Greek coast guard raided the ship and found weapons, which were not registered, the newspaper said.

On Wednesday Turkey’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic said that Turkey was willing to cooperate with the Greek authorities investigating a weapon-laden ship reportedly seized by the Greek coast guard earlier this week.

Tanju Bilgic denied the weapons were unregistered and said the shipment of 4,900 "ungrooved hunting rifles" to be delivered to Lebanon and 492,000 rounds of handgun ammunition destined for Sudan’s police service was legal under the laws of both nations.

"If the materials are found to be going to recipients other than those declared on the customs declaration and if this information is sharing with our authorities then naturally there are a number of measures that could be taken on the matter," spokesman Tanju Bilgic said.

The ministry had also said the company that owned the ship is registered in Piraeus, Greece.

Athens News Agency reported the crew is made up of Indian, Egyptian and Syrian nationals.

The ship arrived in Iskenderun, Hatay province, on Aug. 25 from the Northern Cypriot port of Gazimagusa, also known as Famagusta.