'Empty' containers seized at Mundra Port earlier used for shipping fuel from China, says Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday said the containers seized by Indian authorities at Gujarat's Mundra Port on a Shanghai-bound cargo ship were "empty" but were earlier used for the transportation of fuel from China to Karachi for K-2 and K-3 nuclear power plants.

The Pakistan Foreign Office issued a statement in response to questions from the press about reports in the media on the "seizure of possible radioactive material" by Indian authorities at Mundra Port on a cargo ship from Karachi Port to Shanghai in China.

The Foreign Office said the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant authorities have informed that these were "empty containers" being returned to China, which were earlier used for the transportation of fuel from China to Karachi for K-2 and K-3 nuclear power plants.

"The Containers were ‘EMPTY' and the cargo was correctly declared as Non-Hazardous in the shipping documents," the Foreign Office said.

It also said that both K-2 and K-3 nuclear power plants in Karachi and the fuel used in these plants are under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards.

The reports about ‘seizure of possible radioactive material' is factually incorrect, the statement said.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) on Friday said a joint Customs and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) team seized several containers at Mundra Port from a foreign vessel on concerns that they contained undeclared hazardous cargo.

The seized hazardous cargo containers were en route from Karachi in Pakistan to Shanghai in China, and the containers were not destined for Mundra Port.

India's largest port operator in a statement said that while the cargo was listed as non-hazardous, the seized containers had Hazard Class 7 markings - which indicate radioactive substances.

"On 18 November, 2021, a joint Customs and DRI team seized several containers at Mundra Port from a foreign vessel on concerns that they contained undeclared hazardous cargo.

"Although the containers were not destined for Mundra Port or any other port in India but were en route from Karachi in Pakistan to Shanghai in China, the government authorities had them offloaded at Mundra Port for further inspection," Adani Ports, part of the Adani Group conglomerate, said.