Trial over explosives shipment to start on Tuesday

The trial concerning the Andromeda, a Tanzania-flagged cargo ship that was intercepted off the coast of Crete in January carrying 410 tons of explosives and suspected to be headed to Islamist militants in Libya, is set to begin in the port city of Piraeus on Tuesday.

A series of suspect trips between Turkey, Egypt and Libya had put the ship on the radar of European authorities about two months before the Greek Coast Guard launched the search and turned up the shipment of explosives that were ostensibly headed from Turkey to a mining company in Ethiopia.

However, the prosecution is expected to present evidence – including entries in the bridge log and witness testimonies – indicating that the shipment was actually destined for Libya, in violation of an arms embargo imposed by the United Nations in 2011 on the civil war-torn country.

Due to testify at the Piraeus trial are eight foreign crew members and a 52-year-old Greek suspected to be the Andromeda’s owner.

The 52-year-old, currently in detention at the Greek capital’s Korydallos Prison, has denied supplying illegal explosives to Libya, saying that he has fallen victim to a scam.