A general cargo and container vessel has been detained by Colombian authorities in the beautiful port of Cartagena. The vessel, Da Dan Xia, which is operated by China’s largest shipping group Cosco Shipping Co Ltd, was stopped for illegally transporting thousands of canon shells and about 100 tonnes of gunpowder and other materials used to make explosives, the attorney general’s office advised.
The vessel was headed to Cuba after stopping at Cartagena. It was during an inspection that the weapon haul was found.
^ The Da Dan Xia has been detained in Cartagena. image credit shipspotting.com
^Cartagena is the fifth largest city in Colombia.
The manifests that the captain provided were not a match to what had been loaded on board he vessel, Luis Gonzalez, national director of the Colombian attorney general’s office, told reporters.
“Around 100 tonnes of powder, 2.6 million detonators, 99 projectiles and around 3,000 cannon shells were found,” Gonzalez added.
The shipper, Norinco, who is China’s biggest defense manufacturer has advised that the vessel was indeed carrying some of it’s product which had been sold legally.
