MALAPPURAM: Three
Keralites including a native of Vandur in the district are on board the
Iranian ship Grace-1 seized by Royal Marines of Britain.
It was first week of July that the Iranian flagged ship seized by
British Royal Navy, off Gibraltar.
Relatives of K K Ajmal, 27, native of Puliyakkode near Vandur in the district, who is working as junior officer in the ship has confirmed that he is on board the ship along with two other Keralites from Guruvayur and Kasargod.
Ajmal, who has contacted his family members several times during past one week informed his brother that the crew members including all Keralites are safe in the ship and Royal marine staff are treating them well.
Brother of Ajmal , Muhammed Latheef said that Ajmal has directly contacted him after the ship was seized by British. “Ajmal said that a Guruvayur native and a Kasargod native are also on board their ship and all are safe. Immediately after the seizure of the ship, the British officers had seized the documents and mobile phones of ship staff. But later they returned the mobile phones to all staff and Ajmal managed to contact us," he said. It was three months ago that Ajmal visited home at Puliyakkode near last time
The ship Grace-1 was impounded over claim that it was bound for Syria. The British has already clarified that they only impounded Grace 1 due to suspected destination-a port in Syria-not due to the fact that the ship was carrying Iranian oil.