/ 21 July 2006

Stolen ship is not South African

A container ship stolen from the Walvis Bay harbour in Namibia is not a South African vessel, the South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) revealed on Friday.

”The ship is not registered on any of our [South African] rolls at all,” said Samsa’s Captain Saleem Modak.

It reportedly docked in Walvis Bay in September after a collision with the South African-registered dredger, the MV Ingwenya, while on its way to Cape Town with 335 tons of fuel on board.

Originally called the MV Umfolozi, it was renamed the Michael S and sold to the Greek ship owner, Alexander Saleh, after it was repaired.

However, it was detained last month after the South African Ports Authority won a high-court order against Seagate Shipping for the damage to the dredger.

The ship’s disappearance was being treated as a crime, said Walvis Bay acting deputy sheriff Andre Visser.

”The operation was clearly planned. We suspect that the vessel has entered Angolan waters.

”The Angolan army and navy are on full alert and, if they should spot the ship, they will make it turn back to Namibia,” he said.

Crew apparently boarded the ship under false pretences, held two security guards captive and later dumped them and their possessions overboard.

Saleh flew out of Namibia over the weekend, according to Namibian news reports.

Port captain Vladimir Gusev was suspended after the vessel’s disappearance on Wednesday, according to the Namibian Ports Authority. — Sapa