11 Pakistani sailors freed in Mozambique

Eleven Pakistani sailors detained at a port in Mozambique for illegally docking their ship have been released after 21 days, Xinhua reported Tuesday.

The Pakistanis, crew of the ship Al-Raymanz, were detained in the central province of Zambezia after the authorities suspected the vessel was carrying illegal cargo or transporting illegal migrants to South Africa.

The crew of the ship ‘Al-Raymanz’, released on Sunday, was retained in the provincial port of Quelimane for docking on it illegally, after running out of fuel.

They spent 21 days at the port, even after they paid 7,000 fine to the provincial maritime services, according to the maritime administrator in Zambezia, Daniel Sitoi.The authorities had suspected that the ship was carrying illegal cargo or transporting illegal immigrants during its journey to South Africa.

Sitoi said Tuesday in Quelimane that the war maritime command concluded that the vessel was not transporting anything illegal or dropping something similar in the region.”The eleven crew members have left as nothing was suspected to have occurred clandestinely, such as illicit transport of cargo,” he said.

According to him, the release was ordered by Mozambican Defense Minister Jacinto Nyusi. Radio Mozambique quoted the crew members as saying that they docked at the Quelimane harbor in search for food and water as well.

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Posted by Web Desk on Jan 8 2013. Filed under National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.