Hunt for bomb ship's Irish owners stalled

Greek investigators hit more dead ends today in the hunt for the Irish owners of ship that was seized with 680 tons of explosives on board.

The Baltic Sky recently had its Comoros registry and seaworthiness certificates revoked – further complicating the search.

“The ship is not legally registered,” said Merchant Marine Minister Giorgos Anomeritis. “It is a ghost ship that would have been seized anywhere it went, whether it was carrying explosives or potatoes.”

Greek commandos seized the vessel on Sunday after its meandering six week journey around the Mediterranean and Black Seas drew the suspicions of a Nato anti-terrorism task force.

It was found to be carrying 680 tons of ammonium nitrate-based explosives and 140,000 detonators.

Its seven crew members – five Ukrainians and two Azerbaijanis – are charged with entering Greek waters without declaring their cargo.

Greek investigators are no strangers to the murky world of shipping. It is one of the world’s leading merchant marine nations. But they appear stumped by the Baltic Sky, a ship that in recent years had multiple owners and flags.

Investigators have had no luck finding the owner, identified by its captain as Christian McNulty of Ireland.

Several maritime sources, including the authoritative Lloyd’s List, have linked McNulty with a Sligo, Ireland-based company, Unithorn Ltd, which is listed as the ship’s manager.

Greek officials said they are also looking into the possibility that the Irishman may have been operating the ship through an Istanbul-based company.

When it was seized, the Baltic Sky had paperwork indicating it was managed by a company in the Pacific Ocean Marshall Islands and registered in the Indian Ocean island nation of Comoros, which is an emerging “flag of convenience” for vessels to skirt taxes and regulations.

But Anomeritis said Comoros revoked its flag earlier this month.

The ship’s Ukrainian captain, Anatoliy Baltak, said that on June 20, McNulty changed the location of the delivery and ordered him to take it to Astakos in Greece instead of Sudan.

Sudan has insisted the cargo was ordered for legitimate purposes by one of its businessmen.