The Greek coast guard has seized a cargoship with explosives and detonators on board bound for Libya.
The Kathimerini daily cited the coast guard as saying a Tanzanian-flagged vessel named as Andromeda was intercepted off Iraklio, Crete.
The only such ship in databases is a 2,200-dwt vessel built in 1979 operated by Andromeda Shipmagement of Athens, which could not be contacted.
It was heading from Turkey to Libya on Sunday, coast guard officers said.
On board were 29 containers full of explosives and detonators.
According to the bill of lading, the cargo had been loaded in the Turkish ports of Mersin and Iskenderun and had been destined for Djibouti and Oman.
But, according to coast guard sources, the captain claimed to have been instructed by the owner to take the cargo to the Libyan city of Misrata.
The crew of two Ukrainians, five Indians and an Albanian were detained and were due to appear before a prosecutor on Thursday.
“The coast guard neutralised a moving time bomb that could have had unpredictable consequences both for people and for the marine environment,” coast guard rear admiral Yiannis Argyriou told reporters.
