The Laskaridis Group, specifically Laskaridis Shipping, which owns the ship, issued a statement denying any involvement with the cocaine shipment found on the Atlas ship in Italy. As noted, neither the crew nor the company are involved in the case.
As emphasized, the cargo was reportedly placed «in the ship's seawater intake vents—approximately 11 meters below the waterline.» A place which, as highlighted in the relevant announcement, «is not accessible from the inside and can only be reached by divers.»
Read the announcement in detail:
Laskaridis Shipping, commercial manager of the bulk carrier ATLAS (IMO: 9642368), is assisting local authorities and law enforcement agencies in Italy in their investigations following the discovery of suspected contraband (believed to be cocaine) in the ship's seawater intake vents – approximately 11 meters below the waterline. The seawater intake vents are a part of the ship that is not accessible from the inside and can only be reached by divers. The crew cooperated fully with the authorities, who, after a thorough search of the entire ship, determined that neither the crew nor the company were involved in any way in the incident. The ship had departed from the port of loading in Santos, Brazil, on March 23 and arrived, via Gibraltar for refueling, in Venice, Italy, for unloading on April 17, 2023. The smuggling was detected by local authorities while the ship was anchored in Venice. Since then, the ship has proceeded to berth according to the original schedule, and commercial operations for unloading are proceeding smoothly.
