CFS Pamplona leaves Port of Spain in return to service

CFS Pamplona leaves Port of Spain in return to service The 707-TEU containership CFS Pamplona, which was held in Port of Spain since March 7 as part of a drug smuggling investigation, returned to its regional itinerary Friday bound for Bridgetown, Barbados.
   Four steel cases containing 180 kilograms of marijuana were found attached to the ship while it was discharging cargo at the Port of Spain on March 7.
   “The ship’s owners have cooperated fully with the investigation by the Trinidadian customs authorities,” said a representative for the ship’s owner. “An underwater video survey of the ship’s hull had revealed no evidence of any drugs being attached to the ship immediately prior to her departure from Kingston to Port of Spain.”
   While the outcome of the investigation is pending, the ship owner paid $3,200 as a security against any potential customs fines. No criminal charges are sought in the investigation, the representative added.
   Also, a bail of $158,000 was set for the 38-year-old captain of the CFS Pamplona, Vladimir Georgiev Stoyenov, who was released from remand on March 13. The next hearing in respect to the customs charges relating to importation of illegal substances is set for March 20, the ship owner’s representative said.
   The 2004-built Antigua-flagged vessel is part of a regular Caribbean feeder service operating between Kingston, Bridgetown, Port of Spain and Guanta. The ship departed under the command of a Turkish replacement captain and a crew of 14 Eastern Europeans and Turks.