The Turkish-owned tanker MT Scot Bremen which operated by Scot Tankers was arrived off the coast of Ostend, Belgium on a voyage from Pecem, Brazil. She anchored offshore for the next three days.
At about 1500 hours on past Monday, she got under way once more and put into port at Zeebrugge.,On her arrival, customs agents found hundreds of kilos of cocaine on board, according to local media.
Due to adverse weather
Due to adverse weather, authorities were unable to board the vessel at anchor. The ship proceeded to Zeebrugge, arriving on June 23, where Belgian customs officials boarded and found significant quantities of cocaine. The five crew members were detained by Belgian police, while the master and the vessel were released after being questioned as witnesses.
Prosecutors have not specifically charged
So far, prosecutors have not specifically charged them with smuggling offenses, but Belgian news agency Belga reports that the men are suspected of attempting to head out to sea to retrieve cocaine – and their arrest led to the drug intercept aboard Scot Bremen.
Scot Bremen
Scot Bremen is a 2003-built chemical tanker flagged in Malta. Formerly Wappen von Bremen, she is one of eight specially-constructed sister ships acquired in 2015 by a Turkish shipmanager. The Scot Bremen usually trades between North America, Northern Europe and the Mediterranean, but this year she made two runs to the small port of Pecem, Brazil – one call in April and one more in early June, according to AIS data provided by Pole Star.
Brazil’s biggest seaports
Brazil’s biggest seaports are well-known as powerhouses of the global cocaine trade; the risk of smuggling at smaller ports like Pecem is also growing, local authorities say. Focused enforcement at the main hubs may be squeezing criminal activity out into regional ports, according to Brazil’s Federal Revenue Service.
All Brazilian ports
“While larger port complexes such as Santos, Paranaguá, and Rio de Janeiro rank among the top exporters of cocaine . . . all Brazilian ports – regardless of their location and size – are susceptible to varying degrees to the actions of sophisticated and powerful criminal organizations,” warns P&I correspondent Provender
Related : 240 Kilograms of Cocaine Seized in the Port of Genoa
