MV Shakir docked on Berbera sea port to offload an assorted cargo for Somalilanders business people and individuals.
As it was a merchant vessel, nobody expected anything but the harmless market merchandise it showed on top, and on manifest.
To everyone’s surprise, the port stevedores and officials overseeing the offloading discovered there were tarpaulin machinery in the hold that were not declared.
At a closer look, it was discovered that they were, indeed military equipment and vehicles including a tank, an armored personnel car and around ten landruisers brimming inside with light weapons and ammunition.
When the Captain was questioned about the shipment, he could only come up with conflicting versions on the same issue – no two of which bore any resemblance to one another, sources close to the hub of the questioning revealed.
The Somaliland Minister for Interior, Ali Mohamed Waran’adde visited the ship himself to see for himself the items reported.
The BBC Somali service contacted him over the phone for details.
“All I can say at this juncture of time is the military equipment it carries is enough to raise anybody’s hackles. There are is at least one armoured car, bullet-proof vehicles, ammunition, armored ‘technicals or battlewagons, anti-aircraft guns, and so on,” the Minister said.
The Minister confirmed that the captain did not declare the armament on board upon docking which is a very serious breach to the safety and security of this civilian port, and the international laws governing the transport of military arsenal.
The captain was taken ashore for further questioning.
