'Drugs' found on Malta-flagged ship in St Petersburg

The Malta Maritime Authority said yesterday it was closely monitoring an incident in which a crew member aboard the Maltese registered refrigerated cargo vessel Skulptors Tomskis was found in possession of a pack containing substance presumed to be cocaine.

The incident happened in St Petersburg, Russia on Wednesday afternoon, while the vessel was unloading a cargo of bananas, when Baltic Customs officials carried out a search on a crew member holding Latvian identification documents as he was leaving the vessel. The crew member was arrested by the Customs authorities who eventually boarded the vessel and informed the master of the situation.

A search on the vessel was also carried out with the full cooperation of the ship's master, yielding a number of other packets of the same substance.

The rest of the crew were not detained but were however instructed not to leave St Petersburg. Investigations are still going on.

The MMA said it has asked and received a full report of the situation from the ship's master. It said it was continuing to monitor the situation via its representatives in Russia.