Karachi-bound ship held in Gujarat over cargo that can be used in missile launch

[BL33D]

The spectre of nuclear proliferation between China and its all-weather ally Pakistan was revived this month when Indian Customs officials detained a ship -- bearing a Hong Kong flag and bound for Port Qasim in Karachi -- for wrongly declaring an autoclave, which can be used in the launch process of ballistic missiles, as an industrial dryer.

According to people familiar with the matter, the ship, intercepted on February 3, is undergoing a detailed inspection at Kandla Port in Gujarat. They added that the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which has been examining the ship, is sending a second team of nuclear scientists this week to check the large autoclave on board.

The ship, which left Jiangyin port on the Yangtze river in China’s Jiangsu province, dropped anchor at Kandla, and was bound for Port Qasim. The detention of the vessel has been brought to the notice of the highest levels of national security establishment and the intelligence agencies.

Though national security officials and the external affairs ministry declined to share details of the ship, HT has learnt that it is named Da Cui Yun and carries a Hong Kong flag. The vessel was intercepted on the basis of intelligence tip-off, and one DRDO team has already inspected the 18x4-metre autoclave on board. The autoclave – a pressure chamber to carry out various industrial and scientific processes -- has been prima facie certified as a “dual-use” item, which means it can be used for civilian and military purposes.

A second high-level DRDO team of missile scientists will go to Kandla port on Monday to further examine the cargo, according to an official who asked not to be named. If this team upholds the findings of the first team, Customs will seize the cargo, and charge the vessel and its owners for violations of Special Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment and Technologies (Scomet) export regulations.

According to marinetraffic.com, which maps the movement of all listed ships, the Port Mohammed Bin Qasim-bound Da Cui Yun left Jiangyin Port on January 17, 2020, and has been moored at Kandla since February 3, 2020. The 28,341-tonne dead weight vessel measures 166.5x27.4 metres and was built in 2011 in the home port of Hong Kong. Port Qasim is in Karachi, Sindh, where the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco), responsible for Pakistan ballistic missile programme, is based.

Indian security officials are concerned because the nuclear nexus between Pakistan and China dates back to 1989, when Islamabad signed a deal with Beijing to purchase 34 solid-fuel M-11 ballistic missiles. The M-11s, which can deliver a 500kg payload over 300km, are at the core of Pakistan’s ballistic missile capability with all its other delivery platforms a derivative of the Chinese weapon. Around the same period, Pakistan purchased 12 to 25 liquid-fuel No-Dong ballistic missiles from North Korea despite not being a signatory to any proliferation regime. The No-Dong system can deliver a 700-1,000kg payload over 1,000-1,300km.

Experts said the autoclave episode revives memory of North Korean ship Ku Wol San, which was seized at Kandla at the height of the 1999 Kargil war. The Pakistan-bound ship had wrongly declared missile components, metal casings and Scud missile manuals as water-purification equipment. The story was first reported by HT at that time.

In the case of Da Cui Yun, DRDO investigators have so far found that the industrial autoclave is used for manufacturing composite lining for the solid-fuel ballistic missiles. The ballistic missile is propelled by a solid-fuel-based booster in its critical Phase I. For this, the solid fuel is placed in a steel alloy casing, which needs a composite material liner to withstand the high pressure and high temperatures during the launch process. An autoclave is used to manufacture sheets of silica under controlled temperature and pressure, so that they can be used as liners.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/indi...sile-launch/story-yitIfsajL08Vv3Mi9x3RhK.html

 

[Zane_K]

So.... they received a tip off? yeah ok then

what I don’t get & I’m not knowledgeable in maritime affairs is why do ships need to dock at Kandla port?
And why if the report is true did a ‘sensitive’ cargo ship dock there when an earlier North Korea ‘sensitive’ cargo ship was stopped.( if reports are true)
Would’ve thought it was common sense.

 

[Sine Nomine]

Delusion and Stupidity both have no limits~

 

[BL33D]

So.... they received a tip off? yeah ok then

what I don’t get & I’m not knowledgeable in maritime affairs is why do ships need to dock at Kandla port?
And why if the report is true did a ‘sensitive’ cargo ship dock there when a earlier North Korea ‘sensitive’ cargo ship was stopped.( if reports are true)
Would’ve thought it was common sense.

Well, further investigations will tell us why.

 

[Riz]

Well, further investigations will tell us why.

So you want to say indian can held any ship that used in trade between china & pak?? Don this once and we will bomb the hell out gangu daish

 

[BL33D]

So you want to say indian can held any ship that used in trade between china & pak?? Don this once and we will bomb the hell out gangu daish

On reasonable grounds, any ship passing through Indian waters can be detained, we can, have and did. Dont know why you are surprised as its a normal thing which happens everywhere.

 

[Gadkari]

So.... they received a tip off? yeah ok then

what I don’t get & I’m not knowledgeable in maritime affairs is why do ships need to dock at Kandla port?
And why if the report is true did a ‘sensitive’ cargo ship dock there when a earlier North Korea ‘sensitive’ cargo ship was stopped.( if reports are true)
Would’ve thought it was common sense.

1. Probably because the ship had some cargo to offload at Kandla.

2. Maybe the ship captain was not aware of the real nature of his cargo.

 

[War Thunder]

So.... they received a tip off? yeah ok then

what I don’t get & I’m not knowledgeable in maritime affairs is why do ships need to dock at Kandla port?
And why if the report is true did a ‘sensitive’ cargo ship dock there when a earlier North Korea ‘sensitive’ cargo ship was stopped.( if reports are true)
Would’ve thought it was common sense.

Why would we need to ship something sensitive while it can be easily transported through road? Or why would a sensitive cargo ladden ship dock there?
It's common sense, isn't it?
They say its a dual use tech, the owners and the ship company can easily sue the Indians for holding up a dual use item then.

 

[Zane_K]

Why would we need to ship something sensitive while it can be easily transported through road? Or why would a sensitive cargo ladden ship dock there?
It's common sense, isn't it?
They say its a dual use tech, the owners and the ship company can easily sue the Indians for holding up a dual use item then.

May have misinterpreted the ‘report ‘ ..... it’s not evidence when it says ‘prima facie’ which basically means ‘ on first encounter or at first sight’ kind of suggests that the ‘inspectors’ deemed the ship to be of dual use..making the ‘assumption’ that it was destined to be used for military purposes.

 

[third eye]

So you want to say indian can held any ship that used in trade between china & pak?? Don this once and we will bomb the hell out gangu daish

One has got tired of reading these silly remarks ( in bold)

Whats happening is well within the norms of international shipping. Hold your horses.

If ' bombing' could have been done- it would have been done . Any number of excuses are / were available to Pakistan

 

[Politico]

So you want to say indian can held any ship that used in trade between china & pak?? Don this once and we will bomb the hell out gangu daish

They did it already. When are you departing to "bomb the hell out gangu daish" ?

 

[War Thunder]

Don this once and we will bomb the hell out gangu daish

What's wrong with you people?

 

[newb3e]

Why would we need to ship something sensitive while it can be easily transported through road? Or why would a sensitive cargo ladden ship dock there?
It's common sense, isn't it?
They say its a dual use tech, the owners and the ship company can easily sue the Indians for holding up a dual use item then.

chankya logic transport sensitive goods through enemy port to avoid suspicion!

beat that!

 

[Basel]

On reasonable grounds, any ship passing through Indian waters can be detained, we can, have and did. Dont know why you are surprised as its a normal thing which happens everywhere.

That will have consequences for India, as its not USA and China is not Iraq.

 

[PakSword]

While trump is in India, Indians want to prove their two cents worth.

Any sensitive material is not transported like that.. specially on a ship that is also planned to dock at a hostile port, or that is taking a hostile maritime route.

There are many other ways to transport the materials, and for China and Pakistan, we have road route available.

Any investigation in this matter by Indians officials will have zero value.