Naval police seizes KSRM's ship brought on false declaration
The ship was seized by the Bangladesh Naval Police following a court order
MT Medan is a ship owned by Singapore. Owner of the ship signed a $8.2 million operational contract with Orin Energy Investment Limited of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
According to the agreement, on 13 November, 2020, Orin Energy sent $2 million to a bank account in Singapore.
But the ship was taken to Polao in Africa of instead of being sent to Malaysia, also the name of the ship was changed.
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In this situation, the country's industrial group KSRM bought the MT Medan ship and brought it to Bangladesh.
In the meantime, Orin Energy filed a fraud case with the Malaysian police for shutting down the navigation system of the ship, without bringing it to Malaysia as per the agreement. Later, a case was filed with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre in this regard. Panama's Dayan Holdings Limited was also sued for illegally changing the name of the ship.
Meanwhile, KSRM took no-objection letter from the Ministry of Industries, Department of Environment and Department of Shipping for demolition of the ship. But they kept issue of the case a secret. On 19 May, KSRM was provided with no-objection letter by the Ministry of Industries to dismantle the ship on 10 conditions. Later, when the matter came to light, the no-objection letter of the Department of Shipping was canceled.
When the ship reached the waters of Bangladesh on 3 June, Captain Gias Uddin, principal officer of the Department of Shipping and Commerce, wrote a letter to the shipping master mentioning the case filed with the Malaysian Police. He requested not to issue a no-objection certificate. On 20 June, the court issued an arrest warrant for the ship. The ship was seized by the Bangladesh Naval Police following a court order.
Confirming the matter, Chattogram Naval Superintendent of Police Mohammad Mominul Islam Bhuiyan said the ship was seized from Khwaja Ship Breaking Limited Yard, a shipbreaking factory owned by KSRM, and handed over to the local administration after receiving an arrest warrant from the court.
