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Namibia: Ship of Shame Missing
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The Namibian (Windhoek)
23 April 2008
Posted to the web 23 April 2008
Christof Malesky and Adam Hartman
Windhoek
NAMIBIAN and international civil society and union pressure have forced the Chinese ship carrying a controversial cargo of arms intended for Zimbabwe not to apply for docking at the Walvis Bay harbour.
By late yesterday afternoon the Namibian Ports Authority (NamPort) had not heard from the Chinese vessel An Yue Jiang or its agents on providing services to the vessel if it docked at Walvis Bay, NamPort's acting Manager for Marketing, Wessels Feris, told The Namibian.
Well-placed sources said the ship was in the vicinity of Oranjemund, off the Namibian coast, at around 18h00 yesterday but moving at a very slow pace to conserve fuel.
However, The Star newspaper last night quoted Lloyd's Maritime Intelligence Unit assistant manager in the casualty department, Stephen Olley, as saying that the vessel was 57,2 nautical miles south of the Cape of Good Hope.
"It looks as if she's heading eastbound, possibly towards Dar Es Salaam," he said.
He gave the ship's position as latitude 34 ? 41'55,32" south and longitude 019 ? 01'36,91" east on course 289.6 ? (northwest) at a speed of 10,9 knots (20,2 km/h).
An official at port control in Cape Town said the An Yue Jiang had not contacted the port and that country's Ministry of Defence would not say where the ship was.
NamPort's Feris said International Maritime Law did not permit NamPort to refuse bunkering to a vessel unless specific instructions were given not to, which in this case had not been done.
Although the ship switched off its transponder when it left Durban harbour, the South African Navy, the South African Police Services, Interpol and other international intelligence organisations were able to track it via satellite.
"The most reliable sources and information suggest that the Chinese ship is near Oranjemund and wants to refuel.
We will have no objection if they want to refuel and refresh before heading home.
We understand that it is running out of fuel," said Legal Assistance Centre Director Norman Tjombe.
The International Transport Workers' Federation said indications were that the ship was travelling at 11 knots, heading towards Namibia from Cape waters.
It said the ship was tracking for the harbours of Lobito and Luanda in Angola and was estimated to reach Angola by around noon on Saturday.
Walvis Bay Radio, a communication service for ships at sea, informed The Namibian that it had had no radio contact with the vessel.
NamPort's port control also said the vessel had made no requests to them to gain permission for entry into the harbour.
The Namibian yesterday chartered a plane for possible closer inspection and covered the Walvis Bay harbour area, outer port limits and up to 20 nautical miles west of Walvis Bay.
However, the Chinese vessel was not spotted.
The International Transport Workers' Federation did not rule out the possibility that the ship could still receive a change of orders to put into a Namibian port to refuel or even attempt trans-shipment of the goods at sea, and continued to lobby the Namibian, South African and Angolan governments to follow the lead of their own labour unions and declare that any assistance would be limited to that necessary to return the 28 crew members to their homes - and the cargo of ammunition to its point of origin.
"There's only one place for this cargo to be now, and that's China.
Its shipment of death has no place in the hands of Zimbabwe's teetering and thuggish government," said ITF General Secretary David Cockroft.
"Once again we call on the Chinese authorities to recognise that it's time to bring this ship and its crew home.
The ITF are meeting with its owners tomorrow (Wednesday) and we hope to receive their promise that they will do the sensible thing - send it to the nearest port to refuel and take on supplies, then get it back to China."
The agent handling the ship also confirmed to AFP in South Africa that according to the documentation, the next calling port for the ship was Angola.
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"This vessel is causing a lot of attention.
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That's it. Three strike for China: TIBET, DAFUR and Destruction of Southern Africa. It is time to call for OLYMPICS BOYCOTT. It seems China think they can not be accountable for anything: Oppressions in China, fake and dangerous goods, questionable trade pratices and sleeping with dictators all over the world. This should Stop!!!
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