Detained North Korean ship may be booked under Maritime Act

New Delhi, Aug 17 (ANI): The detained North Korean ship MV Mu San is likely to be booked under the Indian Maritime Act for illegally entering in to the Indian waters.

According to sources, the Union Home Ministry, Defence Ministry and External Affairs Ministry are coordinating with each other to finalise the procedure in this regard.

The Indian Coast Guard detained the North Korean vessel after chasing the vessel for over six-hours near Andaman and Nicobar Islands on August 6.

The Union Home Ministry had sent a letter to Port Blair Police asking it to file a report on entire chain of events, which led to the interception of the ship.

A team of two nuclear scientists from the Kalpakam Nuclear Power Station has carried out a preliminary investigation of the ship and ruled out the existence of any chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear (CRBN) traces on board the vessel.

Indian security agencies, however, want a thorough investigation of the ship to be conducted at Kakinada Port in Andhra Pradesh to find out whether there was any CBRN consignment with sophisticated equipments.

The ship is carrying 3.3 lakh gunny bags of sugar weighing 16,500 kilograms, sources said. (ANI)