Greece seizes explosives ship

Was this the setup for another Sept. 11????

ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- Greek special forces, acting on a tip from an unnamed country, boarded and seized a ship loaded with 680 tonnes of explosives as it sailed through Greek territorial waters Sunday, said a spokesman from Greece's Merchant Marines Ministry.

The Greek coast guard escorted the cargo ship Baltic Sky to the commercial port of Platigialio on that country's west coast, where judicial and guard officials are investigating it, said Merchant Marines spokesman Panayotis Tsianos.

The Comoros-flagged vessel is owned by Alpha Shipping, registered in the Marshall Islands.

Greek officials would not reveal where the ship began its voyage or where it was believed to be bound. The nature of its cargo was described only as including 680 tonnes of explosives.

www.cnn.com...

Who knows. Thank god they found the explosives before they got to the intended target.

Agencies
Monday June 23, 2003

A seized ship carrying 680 tonnes of dynamite was destined for a company with a post office box in Sudan that did not exist, a Greek minister said today.

Here is the rest of the story:
www.guardian.co.uk...

Damn, pretty scarey... Also strange that it was headed to the same general area that the missing 727 is...

Hmm.....wonder who that could be???

Helena Smith in Athens
Wednesday June 25, 2003
The Guardian

The Greek seizure of an explosive-laden ship bound for Sudan prompted heated exchanges between the two countries yesterday.

Here is the rest of the story:
www.guardian.co.uk...

The words: "not", "kosher" and "quite" seem to suggest themselves. The original story appears to have been a trifle inaccurate: www.channelnewsasia.com...
And what exactly would anyone want with nearly 700 tons of ammonium nitrate: a hell of a suitcase! That would be 20-25 large lorries.
Remember the ships that had Saddam's "missing" WMD's on board? Or the Yemen-bound ship?

"unidentified ship" in the area.... Something smells in the water here....and it isn't the fish.....

Greece filed felony charges against the crew of an explosives-packed ship that was seized in its waters while headed to Sudan, but Greek officials refused to speculate about any possible terrorist link in the affair.

A Tunisian munitions company meanwhile said it had a contract to supply the explosives to a Sudanese firm for civilian use.

But the Societe Tunisienne d'Explosifs et Munitions (SOTEMU) said the vessel had changed its route and had gone instead to the Black Sea, and the ship's owner had then threatened to confiscate the cargo and re-sell it.

The Baltic Sky was carrying 680 tonnes of explosives, mainly TNT -- the "equivalent of an atomic bomb" -- and 8,000 detonators when Greek special forces seized it on Sunday, Greek Merchant Marine Minister George Anomeritis told a press conference.

The ship's crew -- five Ukrainians and two Azerbaijanis -- were arrested and charged with possessing and transporting explosives to third parties for outlawed activities, the semi-official Athens News Agency (ANA) reported.

sg.news.yahoo.com...

LONDON (Reuters) - NATO naval forces, which tipped off Greece to a ship in its waters carrying 680 tons of dynamite, said on Monday they were hunting 20 "suspect" vessels that intelligence trackers say could be used by terror groups.

"It's in the order of 20: a moving list, moving target. Vessels fall off it and vessels join it," Lieutenant Commander Harvey Burwin, a spokesman for "Operation Active Endeavour," told Reuters in a telephone interview.

"Active Endeavour" is a maritime anti-terror operation that began in October 2001 and covers the Mediterranean Sea. Its activities have recently been stepped up, with suspicious vessels boarded and searched.

www.reuters.com...

Im pretty sure that this was a terrorist attack that was averted here. But I wonder..... what was the intended target? Any theories?

8000 detonators would suggest multiple targets to me.

I would agree with that.. Although this ship combined with the missing 727 is making me wonder some things..

You're right about that. Something dont smell right here.

A 747 load of suicide bombers running around New York is a scary thought!!!

LOL. No $hit.