Greece slows down a war

[tangaroa]

Greek naval forces claim to have seized a ship carrying 20,000 Kalashnikovs plus ammunition. That's enough to arm a division. The ship is the Nour M, IMO: 7226627, and is said to have been traveling to Iskenderun, Tartus, and Libya. That sounds familiar, although I assume these are commonly-trafficed ports. The ship's captain claims the cargo was destined for the Libyan military, which does little to diminish the implication that the weapons might have been destined for someone unreputable. El Mundo says the containers will not be opened until Monday, which throws the story into doubt.

Black Sea News notes that the cargo containers are marked with the logo of the Turkon shipping company. As of 2008, Turkon's President Metin Kalkavan had also been president of the Turkish Chamber of Shipping.

The Nour M is formerly known as the M.R. Lulu, Sea Hope III, Athos, Agnes, Sea Trader, Silvana, and Anne Mette. It is said to be owned by Uni Marine Management of Tripoli, Lebanon. The ship's owner is Unimarine Ship Management in the Emirates, which was apparently part of the Union Group of Companies whose website has been dead since 2005. Related Union Group companies include Union Shipping Agency LLC of Dubai, sometimes rendered "Union Shipping Agencies", and the Time Travel travel agency. The phone number 971 7 222 0666 is shared by Union Holding Company. From an overly detailed company profile, Union Holding includes Union Shipping Agencies, acronym U.S.A. (is that supposed to be a hint?), "headed by H. H. Sheikh Tariq Bin Kayed Al Qassimi" of the Emirate of Sharjah. Union seems for now to be nothing more than the owner/manager.

We don't know who placed the order or made payment, if any initial payment was made. Given the secrecy surrounding stories like this, we probably never will.