The LTTE forced their way into the Jordanian ship

The armed LTTE cadres surrounded the Jordanian Ship in 6 boats and fired in the air and threatened them, said the ship’s captain to the media. The LTTE had told the media that they rescued a sinking Jordanian ship off the coast of Mullaithevu. But the ship’s captain revealed the true story. The LTTE had forced their way into the ship and looted ship. They had taken away the radar, communication set, computer, fax machine, cell phones and many valuable equipments said the captain of the MV Farah III, Ramaz S. Abdul Jabbar, yesterday in Colombo to the media persons.

The captain speaking to the media said that they left the Indian Kakinada Harbour in Andhara Pradesh, loaded with 14,000 tons of rice to Durban in South Africa on the 15th of December. On the 17th their shipped started to stall due to engine trouble and they were anchored off the coast of Mullaithevu and they were in the process of repairing the engine. Early morning around 3 a.m. on the 23rd of December our radar showed that there were 6 boats surrounding our ship. The armed LTTE cadres fired threatening shots in the air and then forced their way into the ship and stole valuable stuff from the ship. They tried to detach the anchor and asked us for batteries. Later they asked us to jump into their boats and when the crew refused they fired in the air once again. We had no choice but to jump and in the process two of our crew were hurt in the leg and were unable to walk. Now they are using wheel chairs to move about. The captain also said that he does not know what would happen to the ship, because as a result of the LTTE’s actions the ship drifted more towards the coast of Mullaithevu and is grounded now.The 25 crewmen of the hijacked ship reached Colombo with the help of the ICRC and are staying at the Intercontinental Hotel in Colombo. The GOSL handed over the 25 members of the crew to the Jordanian shipping agency representative.