Kenya-UN standoff ends as Mombasa port releases Norwegian flagged ship

The Norwegian flagged Hoegh Autoliners cargo ship. [PHOTO: GIDEON MAUNDU/STANDARD]

MOMBASA: Kenya's authorities have freed a Norwegian flagged ship Hoegh Transporter and its crew from Mombasa's port where it has been detained on suspicion of weapons smuggling since September 17, ending a tense eight day standoff with the UN which had imported trucks and armoured cars on board.

Releasing the vessel worth Sh82 billion on Friday night also ended a separate three way quarrel involving the ship's owner, Kenya government and the UN. The UN had contracted the vessel to transport 34 armoured personal carriers and two ambulances from Mumbai, India to Mombasa port for India's contingency of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, through Uganda.

A misunderstanding occurred when a manifest of the cargo sent to Mombasa failed to declared the machine guns and cannon packed alongside the troop carriers. On Thursday the UN said the weapons were legitimate and dismounted components of the the APCS which had been brought down for safe transportation, to avoid damage during travel. The vessel had other cargo besides the UN merchandise.

As the ship and crew sailed out of Mombasa early Saturday a lawyer for the latter accused the Kenyan security agencies of subjecting his clients and vessel to an "an act of kidnapping...like pirates."

Cliff Ombeta who was at the port when the Kenyans freed it told The Standard that although Kenya was within its rights to investigate the ship and its crew after receiving intelligence such searches ought to be done fast and within reasonable limits.

He said he had established that the Kenyans were acting on reports from Interpol derived from Mumbai in India that, the vessel was carrying undeclared weapons.

"It is understandable for states to act on such intelligence but it becomes an act of kidnapping after detaining people for eight days. When you do that you are now acting like a pirates only that you are not asking for ransom," said Mombasa who said he is yet to receive fresh instructions from the organization in charge of the sailors.

According to Ombeta the vessel was allowed to sail away "around midnight" and The Standard established it was freed about 11.30 am on Friday.

Reports show Kenyan officials have also apologized to the ship's owner Hoegh Autoliners and the United Nations through diplomatic channels to avert a law suit for illegal detention and inspection. But we also established that Kenya resisted UN pressure to free the vessel before completion of inspection and departure to the UN General Assembly by President Uhuru Kenyatta. Police had indicated on Friday evening that inspection of the ship was to end Saturday at 10.00am.

It is not clear who will pay for demurrage charges or the cost incurred by the shipping line and port when a vessel docks in a port.

Kenya Ports Authority KPA Managing Director Gichiri Ndua confirmed Saturday that "the vessel offloaded all the cargo that was destined for Mombasa and has left."

Marine Traffic, a website that tracks the global movement of ships indicated Saturday that Hoegh Transporter was headed for Dar es Salaam port in Tanzania.

The ship sailed out of berth 13 of Mombasa port where it has been moored since the early hours of September 17 when it was detained after Kenyan authorities, apparently, received a report from Mumbai where the vessel sailed from before coming to Mombasa, that the vessel was carrying undeclared weapons.

Mid this week Kenya police threatened to charge the Chinese crew with arms trafficking but this did not happen fostering suspicion that the state had no criminal evidence against them. On Friday a global agency that cares for sailors threatened to sue the state for illegal detention, a day after the UN accused the Kenyan police of breaching international protocol and immunities attached to UN operations by storming and inspecting the ship to investigate its cargo without UN participation.

Documents seen by The Standard show that the UN's logistics office authorized the inclusion of armaments packed alongside 34 Armoured Personnel Carriers APCs and two ambulances aboard the Norwegian flagged Hoegh Transporter ship.

The UN says in a letter by a Colonel Tarunesh of the UN's logistics section dated September 15 that ferrying of armaments in the cargo was authorized as the guns were components of the APCs but which had been dismounted "for safe custody" in order to prevent damage "during the journey."

And the UN declared in the latter that there were no explosives, missiles or ammunition on board and that the ambulances did not have any armaments.

The UN further says in the letter any anti-tank missile launcher found on board was an integrated part of the APCs.

But there was no indication the UN indicated the presence of weapons in the manifest sent to port authorities in Mombasa and in the cargo storage plan handed to the ship's agent and this omission appears to have led to the stalemate and detention of the vessel on arrival at Mombasa port. Reports show the Kenyans were alerted about the presence of the weaponry by an unnamed foreign nation.

On Wednesday Hoegh Autoliners said the United Nations should be held responsible for the weapons found on its ship as police announced they were preparing criminal charges against the Chinese crew.

Hoegh Autoliners said in a statement on its website on Wednesday said that "these weapons belong to the UN vehicles in which they were found" and added that the vehicles were to be used for the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo DRC. The statement also alleged that the weapons were "not declared in the cargo manifest" prepared when the vehicles were loaded onto Hoegh Transporters in Mumbai, India.

The document by the UN logistics office lists that besides the APCs were 34 7.62 mm PKT and 34 30mm Cannons and indicates the certificate disclosing this information was issued on request of a New York based agency that was arranging transportation of the cargo to Mombasa.

Says the document in part:

"This is certify that the Armoured Personnel Carrier (BMP) as mentioned at the list attached to this certificate are being shipped from India to Congo for deployment under the UN Mission MONUSCO by Global Cargo Ltd, New York."

MONUSCO is the French acronym for the United Nation Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo where India has deployed a contingent.

The document further says the armaments "as authorized on these BMPs have been removed and kept inside the BMP for safe custody, as the protruding gun barrels are prone to damage during the journey."

This letter says this detail was shown to the cargo's vendor before loading in Mumbai who signed for it

Now The Standard has established that the confusion appears to have arisen out of miscommunication between UN officials and Mombasa port over the non-inclusion of the weaponry in the manifest received in Mombasa.

"An anti-tank missile launcher is an integrated part of each BMP, besides the two Ambulance BMP (AAT) which remains mounted on top of the turret of the vehicle and has not been removed," according to the September 15 letter by Colonel Tarunesh Director SD 3B of the UN logistics section.

Diplomatic sources indicate the UN protested to the Inspector General of Police and Kenya's Foreign Affairs minister over the accumulated matter and including over claims UN officials have not been involved in the search on the ship.

Besides the APCs and ambulances there are hundreds of Tata trucks also held on the ship which is moored in the port's berth 13.

On Wednesday the shipping company admitted it had been contracted by the UN to transport vehicles from Mumbai for the UN's peacekeeping mission in the former Zaire and disclosed that during cargo inspection at berth 13 in Mombasa port "the Kenyan authorities have discovered weapons, not declared in the cargo manifest, inside some of the UN vehicles.

"It is our understanding that these weapons belong to the UN vehicles in which they were found, and were for use by the UN during their peacekeeping mission. The weapons were not declared to us at the time the cargo was loaded, and the fact that weapons were in the vehicles is in violation with our terms of transportation, which clearly states that no arms or ammunition are accepted for shipment."

Now the certificate by the UN says there was "no ammunition, missiles or any type of explosive in any of these BMPs."