US intelligence has linked fifteen merchant vessels to al Qaeda that are being used to ferry operatives, weapons, money and supplies over the high seas for supporting cells of the terrorist network.  US spy agencies, coalition navies and friendly countries are engaged in searching for these vessels. Satellite and surveillance aircraft are supporting this effort and maintain constant vigil at sea to monitor suspected vessels.

It is well known that one of bin Laden's freighters unloaded supplies in 1998 in Kenya for the suicide bombers who later destroyed the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. But the most important question arising is: Who steers these vessels? A series of incidents/captures/arrests point to Pakistanis being at the helm and steering wheel of the al Qaeda fleet. 

In October 2001, NATO, Greek and Israeli navies were deployed in the eastern Mediterranean, the Black Sea and the Aegean waters to intercept a 1600-ton Tonga-flagged cargo ship named Cristi owned by Nova Spirit Inc; Dimitris  Kokkos, a Greek ship-owner, and a Pakistani-American, Rifat Muhammed own Nova Spirit Inc, a company registered in Delaware, US. The two are known to run al Qaeda’s shipping operations from the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanza, and Nador on Morocco’s Mediterranean coast. Kokkos and Muhammed both went underground after the operations of their vessels came to light.

In another incident, Sara, with a crew of seven Romanians and 15 Pakistanis was detained in Italy. The vessel was scheduled to sail from Casablanca in Morocco, to Tripoli, Libya, but never reached its destination. According to Captain Adrian Pop Sorin, master of Sara, the 15 Pakistani sailors developed seasickness, and its cargo of lead ingots was suspect.   Sorin contacted the ship's owners, later identified as “a Pakistani and a Greek," and requested permission to put the 15 ashore at the next opportunity, but was instructed to keep them aboard. The ship docked at Gela in Sicily and investigations revealed that the identification papers of the 15 sailors were false. They had the phone numbers of suspected terrorists and arms merchants, addresses of individuals connected with the al Qaeda network, $30,000 in cash and air tickets from Casablanca to Karachi.

Similarly, the Twillinger was detained on 19 February 2002 at Trieste with 8 al Qaeda operatives posing as Pakistani crewmen. American and Italian investigators are not sure if they had laid hands on the entire ring. According to some intelligence inputs, several operatives disembarked before the ship docked, and are now somewhere in Europe. Interestingly, Cristi, Sara and Twillinger are sister ships of the Karine-A  that was captured by the Israeli navy,  while carrying  50 tons of arms and ammunition from Iran for the Palestine Authority.

These incidents suggest that Kokkos and Muhammed are chiefs of al Qaeda’s maritime operations.  Kokkos has links with Greek crime syndicates and is purely driven by commercial interests while Muhammed is an al Qaeda operative in the Persian Gulf and Mediterranean. Their modus operandi is simple: al Qaeda operatives posing as seamen are flown in from Karachi, embark on vessels to support cells, collect/disburse/disseminate cash, addresses, instructions and identity papers. Besides, the strategy involves using small, weather beaten, rusty cargo vessels that change names and flags at sea. Before arriving at a port, the vessels rendezvous with another ship, offload the operatives who then masquerade as stowaway/ distressed immigrants.

It is difficult to track al Qaeda vessels as they frequently change names or re-register under different flags by naming fictitious corporate owners, while plying the oceans. According to US Navy officials, al Qaeda had used its shipping fleet flagged in Tonga to transport operatives around the Mediterranean. Tonga's role in Flag of Convenience (FOC) registration goes back to 2000 with the arrival in Nuku'alofa of Peli Papadopoulos, who said he represented Axion Services Ltd in Piraeus, Greece. He persuaded the authorities to allow him to run the Tonga International Registry of Ships (TIRS) out of Athens.  In June 2002, a Tongan government statement said TIRS was to be closed down. But in October 2002, Croatian police seized the Tongan registered ship Boka Star that was smuggling military explosives to Iraq.

There have been several reports indicating that bin Laden is alive and hiding in Afghanistan/ Pakistan/ Yemen/ Sudan. It is believed he fled Afghanistan, traveling along opium traffickers’ routes: eastern Iran-Baluchistan in Pakistan-Gwadar. Reportedly, he boarded a dhow at Gwadar to Oman and then to Yemen. According to a Washington Post report, al Qaeda shifted large quantities of gold out of Pakistan to Sudan, transiting through the United Arab Emirates and Iran. Boxes of gold, disguised as other products, were loaded on small boats in Karachi bound for either Iran or Dubai. From there, they were transported as air cargo to Khartoum, Sudan. But bin Laden still remains at large.