Greek Forces Find 680 Metric Tons of Explosives on Ship

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[Sub-Driver]

Greek Forces Find 680 Metric Tons of Explosives on Ship 48 minutes ago Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo!

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece said on Sunday its special forces found 680 tonnes of explosives on board a Comoros flagged ship owned by a Marshall Islands registered company named Alpha Shipping.

Greece's Merchant Marine Ministry said it had transferred the vessel, which it identified as the Baltic Sky, to a western Greek commercial port for further checks after special forces boarded the ship and found the explosives.

"After acting on confirmed information, special forces checked the ship carrying 680 tonnes of explosives inside Greek territorial waters," the ministry statement said.

It said the Baltic Sky's seven crew consisted of five Ukrainian nationals including the captain and two Azeris.

"Now we need to check if the cargo is legal or if it was bound for any terrorism group," a merchant marine official told Reuters.

The government said the ship was bound for Africa but did not specify where.

"It looks certainly like a suspect ship. And it seems it was en route to Africa but we do not yet know exactly to where," government spokesman Telemachos Hytiris told Reuters.

Shipping sources said the Baltic Sky was reported to be coming out of the Black Sea and into the Mediterranean on June 2, and was heading toward the Tunisian port city of Gabes.

Hytiris said all international police and intelligence services have been notified and the cargo has been confiscated.

"This is a huge amount of explosives and a great success for Greek authorities," he said.

NATO (news - web sites) forces have been boarding ships in the eastern Mediterranean over the last few months. The Comoros flag is considered a flag of convenience.

The discovery comes amid heightened security after a series of bombings in Saudi Arabia and Morocco, and a fresh terror warning in Kenya.

[Monty22]

Can anyone remember where that ship exploded during WW2 that leveled some port city? People reported seeing a nuke-like flash and some still wonder if it was a nuclear explosion on a ship that was heading towards Japan, but went off early.

[Lazamataz]

How much were you thinking of sending?

I'm thinking $20.00.

[TC Rider]

Can anyone remember where that ship exploded during WW2 that leveled some port city?

Port Chicago, CA. This was the first thing I thought of when I read the article.

On the evening of 17 July 1944, the empty merchant ship SS Quinault Victory was prepared for loading on her maiden voyage. The SS E.A. Bryan, another merchant ship, had just returned from her first voyage and was loading across the platform from Quinault Victory. The holds were packed with high explosive and incendiary bombs, depth charges, and ammunition - 4,606 tons of ammunition in all. There were sixteen rail cars on the pier with another 429 tons. Working in the area were 320 cargo handlers, crewmen and sailors.

At 10:18 p.m., a hollow ring and the sound of splintering wood erupted from the pier, followed by an explosion that ripped apart the night sky. Witnesses said that a brilliant white flash shot into the air, accompanied by a loud, sharp report. A column of smoke billowed from the pier, and fire glowed orange and yellow. Flashing like fireworks, smaller explosions went off in the cloud as it rose. Within six seconds, a deeper explosion erupted as the contents of the E.A. Bryan detonated in one massive explosion. The seismic shock wave was felt as far away as Boulder City, Nevada. The E.A. Bryan and the structures around the pier were completely disintegrated. A pillar of fire and smoke stretched over two miles into the sky above Port Chicago. The largest remaining pieces of the 7,200-ton ship were the size of a suitcase. A plane flying at 9,000 feet reported seeing chunks of white hot metal "as big as a house" flying past. The shattered Quinault Victory was spun into the air. Witnesses reported seeing a 200-foot column on which rode the bow of the ship, its mast still attached. Its remains crashed back into the bay 500 feet away.

http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq80-1.htm

[Jacob Kell]

What "work accident" are you talking about, AE? Are there any Azeri Jamaat (or for that matter Chechens as well) in the Horn of Africa region?

[tet68]

I feel compelled to send you a little money.

Only a little?

Darn it, where did I put that book on hypnotism?
I know it's right here somewhere, next to my X-ray glasses or behind my seamonkey exhibit.

I'll be right back.

[John H K]

I think we should find the right Rear Admiral in the Greek Navy to thank for this.

If the article is actually read, it actually isn't known if there is anything illegal about the ship at all.

[John H K]

The worst harbor explosion of all time was Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1917...

http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mma/AtoZ/HalExpl.html

"At 7.30 a.m. on December 6, the French ship Mont Blanc left her anchorage outside the mouth of the harbour to join a convoy gathering in Bedford Basin. She was loaded with 2,300 tons of wet and dry picric acid, 200 tons of TNT, 10 tons of gun cotton and 35 tons of benzol: a highly explosive mixture. At the same time the Norwegian vessel Imo, in ballast, set off from the Basin bound for New York to pick up a cargo of relief supplies for Belgium. At the entrance to the Narrows, after a series of ill-judged manoeuvres, the Imo struck the Mont Blanc on the bow. Although the collision was not severe, fire immediately broke out on board the Mont Blanc. The captain, pilot and crew, expecting the ship to blow up immediately, launched the lifeboats and took refuge on the Dartmouth shore.

Just before 9.05 a.m., the Mont Blanc exploded. Not one piece of her remained beside the dock where she had finished her voyage. Fragments rained on the surrounding area, crashing through buildings with enough force to embed them where they landed.....

1,630 homes were completely destroyed, many by fires that quickly spread following the explosion; 12,000 houses were damaged; 6,000 people were left without shelter. Hardly a pane of glass in Halifax and Dartmouth was left intact.
The death toll rose to just over 1,900. About 250 bodies were never identified; many victims were never found. Twenty-five limbs had to be amputated; more than 250 eyes had to be removed; 37 people were left completely blind. Hospitals treated well over 4,000 cases, and private doctors hundreds more."

It was apparently the largest man-made explosion prior to the Trinity test.

I've seen assorted mention of the blowing up of some rock that was a hazard to navigation in British Columbia as the largest non-nuclear explosion ever, but I think that was later.

[spunkets]

" Even a the most diehard gun-nut or pyromaniac would say that is so much."

It would take 'till next year to ready it for the 4th, but it would be a blast!

[Angelus Errare]

This one:

http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters06-22-041328.asp?reg=AFRICA

Dog first spotted it and pegged it as a terrorist "work accident." His speculation is that the missing Boeing is be housed by al-Qaeda at Mogadishu airport.

As far as Azeris or Chechens for that matter in Africa, almost certainly yes for the former, especially among the Sudanese mujahideen. I haven't seen any reports of the latter crop up, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did.

[spunkets]

"Dammit people. That was mine. Give it back."

Finders keepers.

[TN4Liberty]

Weren't the 9/11 impacts on the WTC about .5 kilotons each?

I remember there were some people calculating equivalent tonnage to determine if it would be considered a WMD (apparently that mattered for some reason). I don't recall the outcome. My only point was that we can't trivialize the effects of any nuke (say 20 Kt = 20,000 tons of TNT). Remember the WW2 "Block busters" were one ton bombs, and the MOAB is (IIRC) 15,000 lbs = 7.5 tons or .0075 KT. This cache is equivalent to about 80 MOABs, but is still only a fraction of the smallest nukes.

[Jacob Kell]

"As far as Azeris or Chechens for that matter in Africa, almost certainly yes for the former, especially among the Sudanese mujahideen."

Could you please give maybe some examples, like what do they do? Fighting the SPLA, any info?

[gitmogrunt]

Just my opinion, but I see a lot of giddy girlish posts, on this thread.

I guess nobody can say Good job to Greek special op's?

[randita]

Alpha Shipping. This:

Alpha Shipping Agency Ltd. was established in 1994. Since then company has developed to become one of the leading Shipping companies in Latvia.



    Alpha Shipping Agency Ltd. now is in the Top five of Latvian shipping agencies. Alpha Shipping Agency Ltd. has all possibilities to provide excelent service in Riga, Ventspils, Liepaja and Klaipeda ports.



    Since 1997 Alpha Shipping Agency Ltd. is member of The Baltic and International Maritime Council ( BIMCO ).

OR THIS:


Commerce has been and still is one of the most sought after activities in the Arab world and where else, other than that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, could envision, 35 years ago, a purely service orientated company, which would facilitate trade amongst companies from all over the world and the local merchant families. With this vision Alpha Trading & Shipping Agencies Ltd. was incepted by Mr. Abdulkader Mohammed Alfadl and the Ellinas brothers, Andreas and Michael, back in 1965.

Mr. Alfadl is the offspring of one of the pioneer merchant families of the young Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and together with the expertise and contacts of the Ellinas brothers formed Alpha Trading & Shipping Agencies Ltd. and have successfully achieved to make it one of the top 100 companies of the Kingdom. For the past several years, Mr. Alfadl, a prominent figure in the Saudi society, is the chairman of over 20 companies, all operating prosperously, in very diversified activities and he has been a long standing member of the Directors of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Al Jazirah Bank and the Saudi Cement Company.

[SauronOfMordor]

You don't understand, that is so much explosives, that if you blew it all up at once it would be counterproductive because it would be too small a area to maximize that amount of explosive power.

But it would make a HELL of a lot of small bombs, like 680,000 1-kilogram bombs, or 6,800 100-kilo car bombs.

Imagine a car bomb in a parked stolen car going off on a crowded downtown street. Now imagine a hundred of them going off all over Europe. Each and every day. For months.

[singsong]

Official Name -Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros Capital City- Moroni Languages- Arabic (official), French (official) Thank you. It irked me when I read that "The Comoros flag is considered a flag of convenience". Never heard of that if we are speaking about merchant convenience... But obviously they meant "terrorist convenience"

[Rockpile]

It's entirely possible that this cargo was destined for some mining, quarrying or commercial operation.

But considering that the Greeks felt compelled to raid this ship maybe they've got some disturbing info about the future use of this stuff.

[GatekeeperBookman]

Thanks for the link. I was only 4 months old ( home in Houston ) so I don't remeber the event. My Dad told me about it. On any normal weekend, my entire family could have been found on a boat in & around Galveston. Scarry.

You know some number of the bodies from the 1900 storm were burried in the Texas City Dyke?

[Rockpile]

Another big explosion occurred when the ammunition ship USS Mount Hood AE-11 blew up in the Manus anchorage in the Admiralty Islands on Nov. 10, 1944.

Also, it seems to me that there was an ammo ship explosion in Canada during World War II, but if there was I'm danged if I can remember any details.

[Destro]

Most probable that the Greek naval intelligence probably is the best in the world when it comes to this stuff due to Greece's large merchant marine interests.