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Finland 'finds Patriot missiles' on China-bound ship


olp1fan

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I am betting these were for North Korea .. any other guesses? Clutch catch by the Fins!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16292244

Police are questioning the crew of the MS Thor Liberty after what were described as 69 Patriot anti-missile missiles were found aboard.

Interior Minister Paivi Rasanen said the missiles were marked "fireworks".

The MS Thor Liberty had docked in the Finnish port of Kotka after leaving Germany last week.

Dock workers became suspicious after finding explosives poorly stored on open pallets, and the missiles were then found in containers marked "fireworks".

The managing director of the ship's owner, Thorco Shipping, expressed surprise. Thomas Mikkelsen told AFP news agency from Denmark that he was unaware of the matter.

Another company official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the ship had been detained in Finland and said the missiles could have been loaded on to the vessel by mistake, AFP adds.

Police did not confirm Finnish media reports that the ship had also been scheduled to stop in South Korea, Reuters news agency reports.

'Quite unusual'

The MS Thor Liberty left port in Emden, northern Germany, on 13 December and docked two days later in Kotka, southern Finland, to pick up a cargo of anchor chains, said Finnish Customs spokesman Petri Lounatmaa.

It was bound for the Chinese port of Shanghai but there was no indication for whom the military cargo was destined.

Routine checks by Finland's traffic safety authority revealed a load of up to 160 tonnes of improperly packed nitroguanidine, a low-sensitivity explosive with a high detonation speed.

"Actually in our investigation at the moment, we have got the information that we found 69 Patriot missiles on the ship and around 160 tonnes of explosives," said Detective Superintendent Timo Virtanen from the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation.

Interior Minister Rasanen said she had not heard of a similar case.

"Of course, there are legal transports of weapons or defence material [through Finland] but in this case the cargo was marked as containing fireworks," she told Finnish media. "That is quite unusual."

Mr Lounatmaa said customs officials and police had launched a joint investigation into a possible breach of Finnish export and weapons trading laws.

He said that the crew of about 32 were being questioned.

Patriot missiles, designed by the US company Raytheon, are supplied to "US and allied forces", according to the company's website. South Korea is among states which deploy them.

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Bound for China? Is this not something that China might be interested in reverse engineering so they can make their own version? Or how about inventing a way to beat the Patriot missile system. This is depressing news. China is still finding ways to steal technology.

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http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/22/world/europe/finland-ship-missiles/index.html

(CNN) -- Patriot missiles found on a ship bound for Asia were being sent legally, a source told CNN Thursday.

The weapons were being sent to South Korea, a customs official familiar with the case told CNN.

"The exporters had all necessary permissions, including an export authorization and a special authorization for the export of war weapons," the source said. "The ship departed from the German port of Emden."

Police said they also found explosives and propelling charges aboard the British-flagged cargo ship Thor Liberty at the port of Kotka, about 75 miles east of Helsinki.

Police said the shipment was headed for Shanghai, China, but the source said its ultimate destination was South Korea.

Well, if Kim Jong Il were alive, this would be a declaration of war.

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Bound for China? Is this not something that China might be interested in reverse engineering so they can make their own version? Or how about inventing a way to beat the Patriot missile system. This is depressing news. China is still finding ways to steal technology.

China has been given more tech than they have stolen. Agreements would have been made with western governments and western companies with China in order to produce many electronics. You can bet your ass new military tech in the USA or any western country has chips made in China.

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http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/22/world/europe/finland-ship-missiles/index.html

(CNN) -- Patriot missiles found on a ship bound for Asia were being sent legally, a source told CNN Thursday.

The weapons were being sent to South Korea, a customs official familiar with the case told CNN.

"The exporters had all necessary permissions, including an export authorization and a special authorization for the export of war weapons," the source said. "The ship departed from the German port of Emden."

Police said they also found explosives and propelling charges aboard the British-flagged cargo ship Thor Liberty at the port of Kotka, about 75 miles east of Helsinki.

Police said the shipment was headed for Shanghai, China, but the source said its ultimate destination was South Korea.

The first post says the shipment was marked "fireworks". Something doesn't smell right about that.

It's true that much technology has been given to China as so much is manufactured there.

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Bound for China? Is this not something that China might be interested in reverse engineering so they can make their own version? Or how about inventing a way to beat the Patriot missile system. This is depressing news. China is still finding ways to steal technology.

so... not bound for China after all. Also, a quick googly would have told you the Chinese HQ-9 missile series is a credible equivalent to the Patriot variants... which in themselves have been usurped on many levels by newer series from both Russia and China.

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buying what? that u.s. was exporting weapon to south korea? yes. i'm buying it.

I'm not buying it..the weapons were obviously hidden.. no one screws up that badly by accident without there being motive behind it

these things get checked quite frequently, I do not buy the U.S story

Edited by olp1fan
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buying what? that u.s. was exporting weapon to south korea? yes. i'm buying it.

and a quick googly also shows that Germany has sold Patriot missiles to South Korea in the past ("The ship departed from the German port of Emden."). Of course none of this fits the conspiracy bent for 'Gulf of Tonkin' types!

Edited by waldo
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and a quick googly also shows that Germany has sold Patriot missiles to South Korea in the past ("The ship departed from the German port of Emden."). Of course none of this fits the conspiracy bent for 'Gulf of Tonkin' types!

I don't think South Korea wants the world to know they're getting weapons shipped in right now due to the situation in NK

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The whole thing does have a smell to it. I'd like to see how this shakes out, it would seem odd that Germany would sell American weaponry to South Korea. Why wouldn't SK just buy it from the US?

Apparently it's been done before. But odd that the weapons are marked as fireworks. I'd be very surprised if such weapons sales were legal without somekind of approval from the U.S.

In other words I suspect they would have to know about it, for it to be allowed.

Edited by Manny
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