A Golden Ocean capesize bulker has been stopped in South Korea after the discovery of a large quantity of cocaine aboard.
The Korea Coast Guard said police found 100.7kg of cocaine worth roughly $250m hidden in plastic bags, according to local media reports.
The John Fredriksen company and Wallem Shipmanagement confirmed the ship was the 181,000-dwt Golden Savannah (built 2017).
"During a coast guard inspection outside Taean Port, in Chungnam, South Korea, on August 25, four bags, containing suspicious packages were found hidden in the port chain locker of the vessel," the companies said in a statement.
Crew supported
The bulker had departed Colombia on July 7 on passage to Korea via Singapore.
The International Criminal Investigation Unit of the Central Regional Maritime Police Agency later confirmed that the packages contained class A drugs.
"The crew of the Golden Savannah have been interviewed and tested as per routine procedure in such cases. A P&I Club representative was on-board to help the crew with this process," the statement added.
"Owners and managers take any situation involving the illegal carriage of drugs with the utmost seriousness and while providing every support to the crew are co-operating fully with the authorities and police investigations into this matter.
Media reports said Korean police began tracking the ship after it received a tip-off from the US Coast Guard about the drug shipment.
The vessel has 20 Filipino crew on board.
