Coast Guard inspects hijacked ship

By Arunkumar Bhatt

MUMBAI, JUNE 14. A boarding party of 10 lightly armed Naviks (sailors) of the Indian Coast Guard today boarded the ``hijacked'' Italian-flag cargo ship, mv Medstar, now anchored off the Mumbai anchorage point, and reported late in the evening that the 14 stowaways were not armed and there was no bomb on board as feared earlier.

The boarding and rummaging of the ship was considerably delayed as the Mumbai Port Trust refused to allot any anchoring berth to ship at its anchorage. Led by a deputy commandant, the boarding party rummaged every compartment and hold of the vessel.

First they separated the crew - 18 Filipinos and two Croatians- and rounded up 14 stowaways, including 10 Iranians and four Iraqis, to go round the cargo ship along with her master, Capt. Desko Vic, a Croatian national. A representative of P and I Club, a German national, who is to negotiate with the stowaways is already on board.

The Coast Guard did not take a motor launch carrying press and television photographers too close to the Italian ship. An accompanying officer said that the launch had to be kept off the ship since bomb detection was going on board.

``Once we know for sure that the ship has no arms or ammunition and that it was not hijacked as reported by its master and owners, our role is over,'' a top official of the Coast Guard told The Hindu earlier.

The ship arrived near Mumbai on Tuesday evening, escorted by two offshore patrol vessels of the Coast Guard, CGS Veera and CGS Vigraha. Earlier, the owners wanted the ship to go to Kandla, the western-most major port of the country, situated deep inside the Gulf of Kachchh.

But the Coast Guard did not want to take such a chance though the master had reported that the stowaways, whom he had described earlier as `hijackers', had not brought any bomb. ``This is because any mishap would have endangered the shipping in the narrow Gulf and even endangered the fragile ecology of the area,'' said an official of the Coast Guard's Western Region Headquarters here.

The Western Region polices the entire West Coast, Lakshadweep and Minicoy Islands and the Western Exclusive Economic Zone.

``It was strongly suggested to the master and owners of the ship to set sail for Mumbai and to ensure that they charted the suggested course, we detailed the Veera and Vigraha,'' said the headquarters source. The natural harbour of Mumbai on a straight coastline affords all safety. Yet the Mumbai Port authorities were reluctant to have the ship anywhere near its navigation channel.

The Indian force would not have taken cognisance of the ship, had her owners and master not sent panic signals to the Kandla Port that m.v. Medstar was being hijacked. All hype and hoopla has now ended since the Coast Guard has established that the ship has no bomb on board.

Now it is upto the Italians and P and I Club to deal with the stowaways and their demand for asylum in a European country. The ship would be then free to sail, perhaps to her next port of call, Kandla, to load blocks of granite.

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