Greece seizes cargo ship carrying weapons to Libya

The over 5,000 firearms and 490,000 rounds of ammunition found hidden in containers onboard the Haddad I may have been destined for ISIS forces.    Greek authorities arrested and detained a cargo ship Tuesday that contained an undeclared shipment of weapons that may have been bound for ISIS forces in Libya, according to a statement from the Hellenic Coast Guard.
   The Greek coast guard stopped the Bolivia-flagged general cargo vessel Haddad I en route from the Port of Iskenderun in Turkey to Misrata, Libya and brought it to the port of the port of Heraklion, Crete for inspection.
   The United Nations has imposed an embargo on weapons shipments to Libya due to ongoing violent conflicts in the North African nation.
   The coast guard found over 5,000 police-type shotguns and more than 490,000 rounds of ammunition “carefully hidden” deep inside two containers that were loaded in Iskenderun and held other non-nefarious cargo like “drawers, cupboards and plastic gymnastic mats.” The coast guard noted the illegal firearms were not mentioned in any of the Haddad I’s documents and it is continuing to inspect the remaining 12 containers on the seized ship.
   The coast guard declined to comment on the ownership of the vessel, but according to online ship registry Equasis, the 1,400-dwt Haddad 1 is managed by Piraeus, Greece-based IMS Hellenic and its registered owner is Haddad Shipping Co.
   “For the current success of new detection and seizure of illegal weapons cargo ship deserve warm congratulations to the Coast Guard and the executives who participated in this operation,” Greece’s Minister of Marine Christos Zois said in a statement. “The coordinated efforts, the immediacy in business, the high sense of professionalism, seriousness in the preparation and the combination of all information, led to identify this ship and the large quantity of arms and ammunition.
   “The count of weapons and ammunition are continuing and we hope that soon we will have more information on this case,” added Zois.