An undeclared consignment of handguns that was on its way from Mumbai, India to the Democratic Republic of Congo was discovered in a United Nations shipment on board the Höegh Transporter.
Government authorities in Kenya detained a Höegh Autoliners vessel in the Port of Mombasa after discovering an undeclared shipment of weapons, according to a statement from the ocean carrier.
The Höegh Transporter has been released after being for over a week because authorities found that vehicles on board contained handguns belonging to the United Nations. Höegh said the weapons were shipped from Mumbai, India, to Mombasa to be used as part of a U.N. peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“It is Höegh Autoliners` policy not to load weapons on vessels engaged in civilian traffic. Had we been aware of the presence of guns inside this consignment of vehicles shipped by United Nations, the cargo would neither have been booked nor loaded,” the ocean carrier said of the incident. “The fact that the vehicles contained guns which were loaded without our knowledge caused a breach of Kenyan laws and our own strict policies. It is highly regrettable that a grave mistake on the part of the shipper has caused major difficulties and delays for other customers, the crew and ship.”
According to ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting, the Höegh Transporter is a 21,400-deadweight ton pure car/truck carrier flagged in Nigeria.
Höegh noted that no drugs were found on board the vessel and no crew have been arrested in connection with the incident.
Höegh vessel detained after Kenyan authorities find U.N. weapons
