Arms ship maybe unloaded for storage

THE CARGO of the Monchegorsk is to be unloaded and transferred to a naval base in Cyprus for storage today, CyBC reported last night.

According to the state-run broadcaster, the operation will begin around 6am, when the ship is to dock at the port of Limassol.

A private company has been contracted to unload the containers and transport them to the naval base at Mari, CyBC said. The decision was reportedly taken following a meeting at the Ministry of Defense early yesterday afternoon.

The report could not be independently verified last night.

Officials from various government ministries and agencies will converge at the port tomorrow to monitor the operation and thrash out final arrangements, the CyBC said.

The Cyprus-flagged vessel was detained by Cypriot authorities on January 29, after the United States, which earlier boarded the ship in the Red Sea, said its navy found weapons on board which it could not confiscate for legal reasons.

CyBC reported also the Cyprus Ports Authority had proposed that the ship dock instead at a port near Vasiliko, to shorten the transport distance to the naval base and avoid traffic on the Nicosia-Limassol highway. The idea was ultimately discarded.

Foreign Minister Marcos Kyprianou said Wednesday that the Monchegorsk was carrying “conventional material” that fell under the relevant UN resolutions prohibiting arms exports from Iran.

Tehran meanwhile has denied the ship was carrying weapons.

Earlier, diplomatic sources in Cyprus had told the Mail the Monchegorsk appeared to be carrying weapons-related material from Iran prohibited under UN resolutions, saying that was the advice Cyprus received from a United Nations panel monitoring compliance of sanctions.

The material is speculated to be shell casings for artillery and tank rounds. The ship had set sail from Iran and was believed to be headed for Syria. Israeli media had initially reported the vessel was suspected of carrying weapons to arm Hezbollah in Lebanon or Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.