Cargo ship search to take weeks

Police board the suspect vessel in the English Channel

LONDON, England -- The cargo ship seized by anti-terrorist police following a tip-off is likely to remain off the Isle of Wight for the "foreseeable future", the Metropolitan Police has said.

It was likely to be a number of weeks before the detailed examination of the MV Nisha was complete, because of its size and design, police said on Sunday.

The 450-ft long vessel, carrying 26,000 tonnes of raw sugar, was intercepted in the English Channel on Friday.

It remains moored about half a mile off Sandown Bay on the Isle of Wight, where the search began.

In due course the Nisha will be moved to another location, yet to be decided, where the examination will continue.

Anti-terrorist branch officers are still searching the ship, and say they have found no noxious, hazardous or dangerous substances on board.

The police stress the ship poses no danger to the public, but the detailed examination was to ensure there was no possible risk.

The crew remained on board the vessel and were being cooperative, said the police.

The Nisha was seized by anti-terrorist police, the Royal Navy and Customs and Excise after a tip-off that it contained "terrorist material" and the Royal Navy frigate HMS Sutherland intercepted her in international waters.

The ship was intercepted at 8am in international waters off the Sussex coast, about 30 miles south of Beachy Head.

Four rigid-inflatable boats then chased the merchant vessel, zipping across the waves until they pulled level on the starboard side.

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

It had recently stopped in the east African country of Djibouti, a neighbour of Somalia, which has been linked to 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.

The suspect ship is moored off the Isle of Wight

She was carrying 26,000 tonnes of raw sugar owned by the Mauritius Sugar Syndicate, which had chartered the vessel, and was due to arrive at 4a.m. on Saturday.

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 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.