Guatemalan navy divers have discovered cocaine inside a device attached to the hull of a Cypriot general cargoship.
The find was made on the 31,800-dwt UBC Saiki (built 2002), which is controlled by German owner Hartmann's Cyprus-based management company Intership Navigation.
Navy special forces carried out an underwater inspection in Puerto Santo Tomas after the ship arrived from Santa Marta in Colombia on 17 April.
Divers found 30 packages of cocaine hidden in a cylindrical metal container, known as a "parasite", fixed to a fin.
The apparatus was separated and transferred to the mainland.
The National Civil Police confirmed the packages contained cocaine, according to Publinews Guatemala.
Investigation begins
Authorities have begun an investigation to try to identify the origin and destination of the drugs.
Cartels using merchant vessels for drug smuggling has been a constant problem for owners in recent years and this incident shows that the coronavirus pandemic has not changed the gangs' business model so far.
AIS shows the vessel still moored in Puerto Santo Tomas on Monday morning
There is no suggestion any of the crew was involved.
Intership has been contacted for further information.
The company is all too familiar with the perils of being caught up in drug smuggling.
TradeWinds reported last week that one if its Polish masters, Andrzej Lasota, remains in jail in Mexico following an incident last year.
Lasota was scheduled to have his case heard earlier this month, because of a deadline for prosecutors to drop or press charges.
But the closure of courts in Mexico due to the pandemic has pushed back the hearing to late May and June.
Lasota was commanding the Cyprus-registered, 32,000-dwt multipurpose vessel UBC Savannah (built 2000) when it was detained on 5 August last year after 240 kg of cocaine was found in one of the holds during a port call at Altamira, eastern Mexico.
Intership has been seeking to have the charges dropped, claiming that Lasota’s adherence to proper procedures may have contributed to his plight.
