N-threat in Chennai turns out to be hoax

The coastal security establishment here got the jitters on Friday after an anonymous caller claimed that a ship anchored off Chennai Port and seeking a berth was carrying radioactive/nuclear material. The call, however, turned out to be hoax.

“It turned out to be hoax. As we are on a high alert, we decided not to take chances and conducted a thorough search. The exercise was tipped off by an anonymous call [we don’t know from where it emanated, or who received it),” Coastal Security Group (CSG) IGP Rajesh Das said.

The ship, Garland, registered in Malta arrived in Chennai from Visakhapatnam on November 17 and was waiting for a berth. Its earlier ports of call included New Mangalore, ports along the Persian Gulf and the Swiss port.

“Ships are given berths on a first-cum-first-serve basis and Garland was stationed in our jurisdiction about 5 nautical miles away from the port. We received information from the intelligence today [Friday] that the ship might be carrying nuclear material and hence, a search would be conducted by a team comprising jawans of Coast Guard, CSG, Navy and the port CISF. Experts from the Kalpakkam nuclear power facility were also part of the team,”Chennai Port Trust chairman Captain Subash Kumar said, adding, “The ship is here to load 5,000 tonnes of cement and 5,500 tonnes of general cargo and will sail to Singapore.”