Nothing suspicious on shipwrecked Pakistani vessel; crew handed over to embassy

Police said on Sunday that the Pakistan fishing vessel that had run aground on the reef near GDh.Nadella early in October has nothing suspicious on board and the crew have now been handed over to the country's embassy in the Maldives. 

The timber boat, which first carried a black flag calling for help, was spotted near Nadella on 6 October. The next morning, the boat was found aground the reef in the far corner of the uninhabited island of Rodaidhoo near Nadella.

Police have seized a huge quantity of drugs from the atoll’s Hoadedhdhoo during an ongoing drug operation.

While a large quantity of drugs were smuggled into the country from Pakistani boats, there has been talk that the items seized during the ongoing police operation are related to the shipwrecked vessel.

When asked by Atoll Times, a police spokesman said on Sunday that there was "nothing suspicious" about the boat.

"People on board the Pakistani boat said they had drifted into Maldivian sea territory twenty days after their engine had stopped. There was a document on board which authorised the vessel for fishing," the spokesman said.

"Nothing suspicious or anything else, for the matter, was found on board."

The spokesman said the police are looking into the matter further. The crew was handed over to the Pakistan embassy on 20 October.

It has been over a month since the boat ran aground, and Nadella Council President Mohamed Anshau told Atoll Times on Sunday that the boat was still there on the reef.

"The boat is yet to be removed, I don't know why," he said.