An MV Toro Vessel with about five crew members on board is being impounded by the government of Liberia.
The vessel which allegedly docked in deep sea on the Liberia territorial waters was brought on shores by the coast guard unit upon a request for assistance from the Liberia Immigration Service (LIS).
The LIS arrested the crew at night on Tuesday, March 24, in the Township of West Point in Monrovia.
LIS’s spokesperson, Abraham Dorley, told this paper yesterday that the vessel and its crew including a captain entered the territorial waters of Liberia illegally and disembarked on deep sea using a canoe to get on land.
He said having landed in the Township of West Point, they were arrested by assigned Immigration officers who handed them over to the health authorities for examinations.
Dorley stated, among many things that, the vessel did not have passengers on board as was speculated and the two Ghanaians on board were part of the crew members who were handed over to the health authorities.
“After their health examinations, they will then explain or give reasons why they disembarked on deep sea and used a canoe to get into Liberia,” Dorley noted.
He continued, “Thereafter, they will have to decide whether they would stay in the country within the 90 days or regularize their status; if not, then they will have to leave the country immediately.”
What is not known about MV Toro Vessel is where a came from, what are the goods on board; if any, who owns it? The need to know cannot be overemphasized because vessels allegedly transport drugs or narcotic substances.
However, it is being speculated that the vessel came from Ghana but that is yet to be independently confirm. Earlier this week, Ghana surrounded by francophone countries (Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Togo) closed her borders due to the growing rate of infected cases of the coronavirus.
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