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.

[Tacis]

Hey, that stuff was for the Olympics in Athens next year. If the authorities don't give it back, the terrorists will have to get more cash from the Saudis so the can replace the material that has been seized.

[lilylangtree]

Eventually ending up in the hands of the palis perhaps?

[ewing]

Or it was bound to load on the missing American Airlines 727 in Angola.

[DoctorMichael]

......Shipping sources said the Baltic Sky was reported to be coming out of the Black Sea and into the Mediterranean .......

Hmmmmmmm.........From the area this ship was leaving could this stuff have been purchased from Russian mafia types?

[Paul C. Jesup]

680 tonnes of explosives

That is enough explosives to level a small-to-medium sized country.

That is overkill in any type of terrorist attack. Even a the most diehard gun-nut or pyromaniac would say that is so much.

[7 x 77]

Hey, that stuff was for the Olympics in Athens next year.

There is an Olympic connection. Earlier this week the EU leaders were meeting in Greece and the Greeks had a 1000 soldier on hand to show everyone that they could run a safe Olympics.

[7 x 77]

That is enough explosives to level a small-to-medium sized country.

Maybe they were going to leave it on the ship and blow it up in a harbor?

[ewing]

Greek Government spokesperson-" it seems it was en route to Africa. but be do not exactly know where. '

I would say it is a fairly good possibility to West Africa

[shaggy eel]

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

,,, my $100's on Tripoli.

[shaggy eel]

,,, oil rigs off Nigeria and Angola?

[Riley]

Hey! I know how we can get rid of the stuff...

FIRE IN THE HOLE! FIRE IN THE HOLE! FIRE IN THE HOLE!

"Captain, you're free to proceed.
EOD team, get to the bird and unass this AO."

[Paul C. Jesup]

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.

[LurkedLongEnough]

More info:

Comoros, independent state comprising a group of islands at the northern entrance to the Mozambique Channel, between the African mainland and the island of Madagascar. Officially called the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros, the republic includes three islands: Njazidja (formerly known as Grande Comore), Mwali (Mohéli), and Nzwani (Anjouan). Since the republic's independence in 1975, the fourth island in the Comoros Islands archipelago, Mayotte (Mahoré), has in two referenda chosen to remain a dependency of France. The republic has an area of 1,865 sq km (720 sq mi), while the Comoros Islands group (including Mayotte) has an area of 2,171 sq km (838 sq mi). The capital of the Comoros is Moroni.

Official Name -Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros
Capital City- Moroni
Languages- Arabic (official), French (official)

[virgil]

Thats a lot of explosives. It could do a lot of damage to Athens. Maybe cause a tidal wave or earthquake even.

[CyberAnt]

Hmmmm? Is this perhaps one of those mystery ships we heard do much about ...?? Curious how they found out about it?

[Paul C. Jesup]

Thats a lot of explosives. It could do a lot of damage to Athens. Maybe cause a tidal wave or earthquake even.

It all depends on the amount, what place they are used and at what time.

[CyberAnt]

Hmmmm? That's what I was thinking!

[Angelus Errare]

Couple this with today's "work accident" in Mogadishu and the existence of the pro-Chechen Azeri al-Qaeda affiliate Jamaat Islami headed by Amir Badalov and Rovshan Kitab-Ogly and you can make a plausible case for this stuff heading for Somalia.

[CyberAnt]

"cause a tidal wave or earthquake even"

Are you series - that is hugh!!!