The container ship, MV Maersk Constellation was held in Lobito port, Angola last week on allegation brining in four containers loaded with ammunition.
The container ship, MV Maersk Constellation was held in Lobito port, Angola last week on allegation brining in four containers loaded with ammunition.
The four containers, which are destined for Kenya have not been returned to the ship even though the Kenyan government has issued a statement saying that it is expecting the shipment. While under detention in port the ship has been guarded by an armed Angolan patrol ship and has had to move from an anchorage to the pier on several occasions to enable further inspections of the remaining cargo, which is mostly relief aid grain.
The Maersk Constellation is a US-flagged vessel operated by Maersk Line Limited. The ship operates regularly along the African coast. According to Speers the ship often carried American humanitarian assistance to the Middle East and Africa under contract from NGO’s. It is not generally known however that the ship also carries weapons and ammunition as part of its regular cargo.
The ill-fated ship was en route from Senegal to Mombasa and while in port Lobito authorities discovered that four containers of soy, loaded on behalf of an unidentified non-government organisation operating in Benguela, another Angolan port, in fact contained a supply of guns, ammunition and rocket launchers hidden behind a covering of the soy.
Lobito Police claimed that the ship’s captain was aware of the shipment, which belonged to the Kenyan Ministry of Defence, and had failed to declare them. Authorities then requested that the four containers be unloaded in Lobito, to enable the matter to be further investigated. The ship was meanwhile prevented from sailing.
The Maersk Line spokesman, Kevin Speers, provided a different angle to the story in a written statement.
“On this particular voyage, the vessel was carrying US-government food aid to several African nations as well as four containers of small arms ammunition (bullets) destined for a US-allied country under a US Department of State export license arranged by the shipper, a US company that is not affiliated with Maersk,” he wrote.
Speers said said the cargo of ammunition was “moving in full conformance with US and international law and is not destined for Angola.”
“On arrival in Lobito to discharge a portion of the food aid cargo, all the ship's cargo was declared. Twelve days later the Angolan authorities raised questions about the four containers onboard and elected to detain the vessel until the documentation was verified,” he explained.
“On Wednesday evening local time, Angolan authorities informed the ship's captain that the verification process was complete, the cargo will be returned to the vessel, and Maersk Constellation will be permitted to proceed with its voyage. We are now awaiting the cargo so Maersk Constellation can be underway, and until then, we will continue to work with Angolan and US government officials,” said Speers.
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