http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/npwo304.html
Armed men storm ship and round up crew. They think it's pirates, but...
BY GENEVIEVE JIANG
Dec 12, 2001
THE time was 5.48am.
The sky was dark. The mist, barely settling.
But in the middle of the North Arabian Sea, tensions were brewing on board the Kota Sejarah
Two groups of gun-toting US Navy Seals, the elite tactical force, had stormed the Singapore-chartered container ship while it was sailing out of Karachi, Pakistan, towards South-east Asia, taking the crew members by surprise.
For eight hours, the Panamanian-flagged vessel, chartered by the Singapore-based company, Pacific International Lines (PIL), was detained by some 75 US Navy Seals and Marines in search of illegal weapons and terrorists.
The incident happened last Thursday.
A source, familiar with the incident, told The New Paper that crew members initially thought they were being attacked by pirates.
He said: "They were all armed. The Navy Seals ordered the crew to slow down the vessel.
"Then they got all crew to gather, and the chief officer went round with one of them to check the cabins."
According to The Business Times, the Navy Seals handcuffed six crew members with plastic bands and forced them to lie face down on the ship's deck for 30 minutes.
Among them were the ship's chief engineer and chief officer.
Our source refused to confirm if anyone on board suffered injuries, if the crew members resisted, or if the soldiers used force against them.
He said: "These (the US soldiers) are highly trained professionals. Under such circumstances, you know what the consequences will be if you resist.
"You participate without question. This is military action. You don't expect them to mollycoddle you." A PIL spokesman told BT that although the crew co-operated with the search teams, two crew members suffered injuries - one to his finger while the other was reportedly kicked in the leg by one of the American soldiers.
He said: "All hands were then asked to proceed to the Crew Mess, where they could be visually monitored.
"The chief engineer was allowed to proceed to the engine room and the master remained on the bridge."
HELICOPTERS
About an hour and a half later, seven military helicopters arrived.
While they hovered overhead, US Marines rappelled onto the ship's deck.
The Navy Seals and Marines, from the assault ship USS Shreveport, inspected some 300 containers on board the Kota Sejarah.
The cabin search took about three hours, reported BT. After that, the teams searched cargo holds and containers, focusing on containers loaded at Karachi and headed for Aden, Yemen and Mombasa, Kenya. The soldiers also checked and videotaped all cargo documents, passports, certificates, crew lists and ship's drawings.
But they failed to find anything suspicious. A PIL spokesman said the soldiers left after "expressing their thanks to the master for his co-operation and apologies for the inconvenience caused", reported The Shipping Times.
The US Navy is reported to be searching the world's oceans and ports for some 23 merchant ships, all on a classified list of ships identified by US and Norwegian intelligence agencies as owned or controlled by Osama bin Laden and the Al-Qaeda terrorist organisation, reported ABC news.
British, Australian, German and French ships are also joining in the hunt. According to ABC news, the storming of the Kota Sejarah is only the second boarding of a suspicious vessel since the search began two weeks ago.
But our source said the inspection was part of a routine military operation.
He said: "The Kota Sejarah wasn't singled out. All ships sailing out of Karachi will be inspected by the US and its allies.
"It happened to the ships during the Gulf War.
"It's no surprise that it happened again this time."
There was footage of the Seals searching the containers on one of the network news shows several days ago.