25.12.11

Thor Liberty: loaded missiles at Papenburg


The ship carrying missiles bound for South Korea that was detained in Finland over Christmas has run into more problems at the port of Kiel in Germany. The ship's crew is once again facing questions over secure storage of its cargo.
A representative of Kiel police told local media January 12 that they are inspecting the explosives in containers onboard. The same issue caused a lengthy inspection and re-loading operation at Kotka harbour.
[earlier]Reloading of explosives onboard the impounded Thor Liberty vessel in Kotka resumed on Sunday. Rescue officials say the operation could continue well into December 26. More of the poorly loaded explosives were confiscated on Sunday but work is proceeding without any major problems. So far some 250 kilos of explosives have been confiscated from the ship and will be destroyed later.

The “Thor Liberty,” belonging to a Danish company, flying a British Isle of Man flag, and manned by a Ukrainian crew, was stopped Wednesday during a routine check at the southern Finnish port of Kotka. German media reports say the missiles were marked as “fireworks.”

The high-tech weapons were reportedly loaded onto the ship at Papenburg, on the River Eems, 40km inland from the North Sea, not far from Vörden, once a a Nike Hercules AA missile site.. The export permission documents were registered at the customs office in Emden, in the state of Lower Saxony. back

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