Chinese ship allowed to leave India, suspicious cargo impounded

Engineering cargo, having both civil and military use, meant for a private company in Islamabad has been impounded by authorities. Shipping company signs a bond to cooperate in the high-level investigation by Indian agencies

New Delhi: The Chinese commercial vessel, which was detained for almost three weeks by Indian security agencies for carrying ‘missile engineering parts’, has been released.

The cargo ship, DA CUI YUN (IMO 9451329), owned by COSCO Shipping company, was under the custody of Indian security agencies, since 3 February, anchored at the Port of Kandla in Gujarat. 

According to reports, the commercial vessel was allowed to move for its final destination, Port Qasim Anchorage, in Pakistan on 20 February. However, the Indian security agencies have off-loaded and seized all the containers carrying the engineering devices ‘heat exchanger’ from the ship. 

As reported by the TheNews21 on 12 February, the suspicious cargo holding was discovered by port authorities, soon after the ship made a port call on 3 February. 

“The cargo log with the ship’s captain had enlisted the ‘heat exchangers’ as commercial cooling units. Though the engineering devices serve a dual purpose – civilian and military, we were not able to receive sufficient information neither from the ship’s commanding officer nor from the shipping company, which could help us clear the cargo,” a senior customs officer from Kandla port told TheNews21 on phone. 

He added that even the investigating teams from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), and Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), who examined the cargo, had red-flagged it. Based on these grounds, the authorities off-loaded the suspicious cargo and impounded it.

“We have taken details of all the crew members. The shipping company representatives from New Delhi have also signed a bond with us, to cooperate and remain present, when summoned for further investigation,” the officer said, while adding that the DRI and DRDO will continue to examine the ‘heat exchangers’ in order to unearth its real intended use.

Meanwhile, even after several attempts, officers of the COSCO Shipping company remained unavailable for their comments on the development.

On February 11, a senior management officer of the Shanghai-based shipping company had told TheNews21 that the entire incident was a ‘misunderstanding’. While hoping to get a clearance for the cargo meant for a private company in Islamabad, the officer had said that Indian authorities had ‘googled information related to the heat exchangers’, which had led to the misunderstanding. 

In attempts to track the ship itself, TheNews21 found out that the commercial vessel docked in the Pakistani port on 21 February, at 08:09 pm. It was escorted inside the Port Qasim by the Pakistani coast guard. Statements of the crew members were recorded shortly upon arrival by the Pakistani port authorities. The vessel continues to hold position in Karachi waters, guarded by Pakistani security personnel.