Court orders inquiry into ownership of seized Iranian boat

KARACHI: Sindh High Court on Wednesday ordered inquiry about ownership of an Iranian boat taken into custody in Pakistani territorial waters, ARY News reported.

“The boat was taken into custody after it entered in Pakistan’s territorial waters,” an official of Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) informed the court.

“The boat entered in Gwadar limits without permission,” Commander Sami, an official of PMSA told the court. “The people onboard the vessel failed to satisfy security officials,” PMSA official said.

“The papers of the boat produced to authorities, have wrong registration number. Iranian officials and the boat owner failed to prove their claim of ownership of the boat,” the official said in his statement to the court.

The court while ordering further scrutiny of the documents produced for ownership of the boat, directed the authorities to handover the vessel to the petitioner after verification of the documents.