Nork mystery ship headed for Iran seized by India

Reuters/Houston Chronicle:

India has detained an empty North Korean cargo ship bound for Iran after it strayed into Indian waters, baffling coast guard officials and police about the purpose of its voyage.

"MV Omrani-II" developed a snag and entered Indian waters on Oct. 29 and was towed to the Mumbai Port where the crew was being questioned by Indian intelligence and customs officials.

"The crew has not been able to explain why they were sailing an empty vessel to Iran," a senior coast guard official told Reuters on condition of anonymity today.

However a senior official at the Directorate General of Shipping said: "They have told us that because it is a new ship they were testing it. But it is strange that they should need to sail as far as Iran."

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... Indian officials said they were not acting at the behest of the U.N. (because of the sanctions) but simply because a suspicious ship had entered Indian waters.

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In 1999, a North Korean ship was seized off western India after a search revealed it was carrying missile components, metal casings and technical manuals to Pakistan. The ship's manifest had listed sugar and water purification equipment.

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Why would North Korea send an empty ship to Iran. One explanation is to pick up something, but Iran's major export is oil and this definitely was not a tanker. One possible explanation relates to some speculation that the nuclear test in North Korea recently was done for the Iranians. Perhaps the ship was sent to pick up a new weapon to test for them.

Update: ThreatsWatch has more on the mystery ship including some speculation that the cargo may have been thrown overboard.