Venezuelan authorities this morning released the U.S.-flagged cargo ship Ocean Atlas from two weeks of detention on suspicion of arms trafficking.
This comes as a relief to Intermarine, the owner of the ship, as well as for the 15-man all-American crew who had been stuck in limbo since August 29 when Venezuelan customs officials discovered a handful of weapons on board.
“We are pleased to confirm that charges have been dropped against the vessel and crew and the master has been returned to the vessel. We continue to work cooperatively with the Venezuelan authorities to bring this matter to a successful conclusion,” says Will Terrill, v.p. at Intermarine, in a statement.
The weapons were not accompanied by the proper documentation and thus were technically illegal for the ship to be carrying in Venezuelan waters.
There’s no telling yet what a subsequent search of the Ocean Atlas’ cargo revealed, but the captain, Jeff Raider, was removed from the ship for questioning. The rest of the crew was also interrogated.
