NEWS

Captain grilled on Cyprus call

Port authorities in Piraeus yesterday questioned the Greek captain of a Greek-owned cargo ship that delivered a shipment last week to the port of Famagusta in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus, infuriating Athens and Nicosia. On Friday, the Greek Merchant Marine Ministry – which has banned any Greek-flagged vessels from calling at ports in northern Cyprus – ordered Aegean Sun captain Stathis Stylianos to sail for Greece on pain of a two-year jail term. The ship, which is owned by Greece’s Aegean Cargo shipping firm but had been chartered to a British company, put in at Famagusta on Thursday, with a consignment of second-hand cars from the UK. Stylianos has claimed that he was unaware of the ship’s true destination, believing he was headed for Alexandretta, but was forced by the British company to go to Famagusta. The Aegean Sun arrived at Keratsini yesterday afternoon, and port authorities took Stylianos and the other ship’s officers in for questioning. The captain has had his license revoked and faces disciplinary action.

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