Arms for US aboard stranded ship?
2003-08-19 16:56
William Smook
Cape Town - In the absence of information about what cargo is aboard the Sealand Express, Capetonians reading about the stricken ship on the internet might be startled to know that it's part of a shipping line that transports ammunition for the US Armed Forces.
The details of the ship's cargo manifests remain unknown. But the Maersk Line website says: "Maersk Line, Limited owns and operates US Flag vessels under exclusive contact with the Military Sealift Command in support of the US Military's sealift requirements (which) provide transport and storage for rolling stock, breakbulk, containers and ammunition for the US Army and Marine Corps, as well as ocean surveillance and radar support to the US Navy."
The ship ran aground last night after it apparently dragged an anchor in the violent storm that buffeted the peninsula. It then ran aground on Milnerton's Sunset Beach.
Ships have been wrecked in Table Bay for hundreds of years. If the Sealand Express is carrying some sort of ordnance, it might be the first to go aground so near an oil refinery and a residential area, not mention a nuclear power station.
- News24