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Iranian cargo vessel: Ministry to pursue further action
The Director General of Merchant Shipping said that they had requested the Ministry of External Affairs and the Sri Lankan Navy to pursue further action against the Iranian cargo vessel, AV Amina which fled the country’s waters on January 17 despite a Sri Lankan court order.
“I have made the relevant requests to the ministry of External Affairs and to the Sri Lankan Navy informing them about the current status. They will take relevant action accordingly” Director of the country’s merchant vessel regulatory body AjithSenevirathne said.
Speaking to Daily Mirror, Senevirathne said that the vessel was taken into custody after they received a court order to the effect.
“ We made the arrest within the territorial waters of Sri Lanka on December 14, thereafter on one occasion the vessel tried to flee, however the Navy ensured that they were detained” he said.
Speaking further, Seneviratne said that initially there was a dispute regarding the jurisdiction of the Lankan authorities when detaining the ship.
“There was an issue to the effect that the ship entered the waters of the country. However NARA and even the captain of the vessel confirmed that they had entered within 12 nautical miles of our waters and therefore we were acting entirely within our jurisdiction” he said.
However, both the Navy and the Directorate General of Merchant shipping were unable to explain as to how the ship fled beyond the territorial waters of the country.
The Directorate General of Merchant Shipping which is the shipping administration arm of Sri Lanka has the overall responsibility for overseeing maritime concerns. The activities of the Directorate General of Merchant Shipping are basically governed by the Merchant Shipping Act No.52 of 1971, Licensing of Shipping Agents act No. 10 of 1972 and also the relevant clauses of the Admiralty Jurisdiction Act No. 40 of 1983 and subsequent regulations made thereafter, its website said.
The ship was initially taken into custody following a court order obtained by Germany's DVB Bank for alleged arrears in payment.
Earlier Navy spokesman Commander Kosala Warnakulasuriya said "If the ship is beyond 12 nautical miles from our shores, then we can't do anything according to U.N. laws, unless the ship had committed crimes in our country," (Hafeel Farisz)
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