Search of cargo ship continues

Police board the suspect vessel in the English Channel

LONDON, England -- The search of a cargo ship by British anti-terrorist officers off the Isle of Wight could take several more days.

The ship was detained in the English Channel on Friday following a tip off that it was carrying "terrorist material."

A "detailed examination" of the near 17,000 tonne, 450 long vessel MV Nisha continued on Saturday off the Isle of Wight.

But so far no noxious, hazardous or dangerous substances had so far been found, a Home Office spokesman told the Press Association.

The crew, thought to be Indian, were being co-operative, but it was not possible to say when they would be allowed to leave the vessel.

Scotland Yard said it was not possible to say how long the Nisha would remain off Sandown Bay.

The Nisha was intercepted in international waters and was taken to Sandown Bay, where she is moored about half a mile offshore.

The interception was described as a "major security operation" by Scotland Yard.

Security sources said they were acting on intelligence that the vessel was carrying "terrorist material", although there was no specific intelligence that anthrax was involved.

The MV Nisha is operated by the Great Eastern Shipping Company, based in Bombay.

It had recently stopped in Djibouti, neighbouring Somalia, which has been linked with Osama bin Laden's al Qaida terror network.

The ship had sailed from Mauritius and was carrying a cargo of sugar to the Tate & Lyle refinery on the Thames at Silvertown in east London, according to the company.

She was carrying 26,000 tonnes of raw sugar owned by the Mauritius Sugar Syndicate, which had chartered the vessel.

The chairman of the British arm of the Great Eastern Shipping Company, Sudhir Mulji, confirmed that the vessel had stopped over at Djibouti before its current journey to drop off American grain as part of a food aid shipment.

The suspect ship is moored off the Isle of Wight

The ship then went on to Mauritius to pick up the sugar and left on November 20 to transport it to Britain.

The Great Eastern Shipping Company, which has offices in India, London, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, is a leading Indian shipping and offshore service provider with a fleet of 38 cargo-carrying vessels.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said the interception demonstrated the "top-level vigilance" of the security services.

During a press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin at an air-force base in Buckinghamshire, Blair said: "I can't comment on the potential nature of the threat itself, but I can simply say this: that we remain on top-level vigilance throughout these coming weeks and even if the risk is only a potential risk, we will not hesitate to take any action that we think necessary in order to investigate any potential threat."

Mulji told Reuters that maintaining security on merchant vessels was virtually impossible.

"In my view it's impossible. Basically I don't see how you can. You've got so many people who come to load a ship, discharge a ship etc. What sort of secirity can you maintain?" he said.

Mulji, who said that he had not been in touch with any members of the crew of the Nisha, backed the security operation.

"It's obviously very necessary if the police and the intelligence have any suspicion that there is something on the ship they must investigate it."