The British Navy intercepted a ship smuggling 1,100 tons of oil from Iraq Friday. Royal Marine commandos boarded the vessel in the Northern Arabian Gulf and arrested its captain and crew.
It is not clear who owns the vessel or where it was headed. The ship, called Navstar 1, was registered in Panama and had a Ukrainian crew. The vessel will be hauled to Iraq’s southern port of Umm Qasr in the next few days, where the crew will be handed over to the Iraqi police for questioning, reported Reuters.
"This is the most significant seizure we have had since the end of the war," said Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander Richard Walter. US and British forces in Iraq have been trying to crack down on widespread smuggling of oil since they overthrew Saddam Hussein four months ago.
Up to three-billion-dollars worth of illegal oil exports crossed the Gulf seas in 2002, making their way from the besieged Iraq to black markets in neighboring states. Members of Saddam Hussein’s regime landed the spoils from these unregulated oil sales, with profit rates estimated at around $100 per ton. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
