By Jite Eriabie
An unidentified quantity of drugs was found on board a container vessel Dimitris C while in the port of Ilo, Peru, on September 14.
The owner of the ship Danaos Shipping Co said the contraband was found during a regular inspection on board the Panamax boxship mandated by the company when its ships call into ports suspected of drug trafficking.
The drugs were found by the crew, carefully hidden in a void space on the deck between two holds.
The master of the Maltese-flagged vessel informed the authorities of the incident, and shortly thereafter police forces accompanied by trained dogs boarded the vessel.
“A full search was conducted by the authorities, escorted by the crew’s safety committee, an office representative who flew from Greece and the representatives of the local P&I. No other drugs were found onboard,” the company said in a statement.
The 40,102 DWT ship was held in the port for three days due to the ongoing investigation proceedings.
The ship’s crew members were interrogated by the local prosecutor, only to be released without charges as they were found to be innocent, Danaos said.
The 2001-built vessel was cleared to depart from the port and left on Sunday, September 17.
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