Cablegate: Taiwan: Seized Phosphorus Pentasulfide Loaded For

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 003199

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON
DEPT FOR EAP/RSP/TC, NP/CBM, NP/ECC

FROM AIT KAOHSIUNG BRANCH OFFICE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETTC PARM PTER EWWT TW IT
SUBJECT: Taiwan: Seized Phosphorus Pentasulfide Loaded for
Shipment to Italian Manufacturer, Italmat Chemical, Ltd.

1. (SBU) Summary. On 28 July, 2005, AIT/K Econoff and
Economic Assistant observed the entire process of loading
and moving 158 barrels of phosphorus pentasulfide which had
been held in Kaohsiung Customs impound warehouse, located
outside Kaohsiung Harbor, since its seizure by Taiwan
Customs from the North Korean vessel, Be Gae-hung on 13
August 2003. The phosphorus pentasulfide was moved to the
Yang Ming Line export container storage yard, located at
wharf 70 in Kaohsiung Harbor's number 3 Container Handling
Facility, for temporary storage prior to shipment to Italy,
via Singapore and Egypt. The storage area is certified for
storage of hazardous chemicals. While the overall operation
was uneventful, AIT/K Econoff noted that one of the 158
barrels was lacking the manufacturer's tamper seal. End
Summary

2. (SBU) A single forklift operator moved the sealed
barrels from the Customs warehouse and loaded them into two
20-foot containers, with each container carrying 79 barrels.
The two containers then were locked and sealed by Taiwan
Customs officials. The containers were loaded by crane
onto trucks and moved back to YML's container yard. The
processing began at 1:00 pm and lasted until 7:00 pm. AIT/K
staff observed the entire process from the opening of the
warehouse to the final placement in Yang Ming's wharf 70
storage yard. Also present throughout the process were
officials from Taiwan's Bureau of Foreign Trade,
Environmental Protection and Customs offices and senior
staff from Yang Ming Line.

3. (SBU) During the loading phase, AIT/K Econoff noted
that, while all barrels were still sealed with a barrel
ring, one of the barrels was missing the manufacturer's
tamper seal. Kaohsiung Customs officials said it must have
been knocked off during handling. The seal could not be
found in the holding area.

4. (SBU) According to YML executive, its vessel, the YM
Plum, will transport the cargo as far as Singapore. It is
scheduled to leave Kaohsiung Port on August 2 and arrive
Singapore on August 5, where it will be transloaded to a
vessel operated by Asian Mediterranean Shuttle Service
(AMS), departing on 8 August. According to Yang Ming, all
necessary clearances from the Singapore Government have been
requested and received. It is scheduled to arrive in Port
Said, Egypt on August 20. The cargo will remain on the AMS
vessel for onward transit to Livorno, Italy via Genoa,
Italy. It will depart Port Said on 21 August, transit
Genoa, Italy on August 24th and 25th and arrive Livorno,
Italy on the 26th of August. It will be delivered to the
original manufacturer, Italmat Chemical Limited, in Livorno
and then transported overland to the factory. (Comment:
Yang Ming had no information on any interim destinations
between Port Said and Genoa, but three days seems a long
time for the passage. End comment.) Yang Ming had
originally requested clearance from Italy to ship via
Naples, but Italy refused permission to use Naples, citing
terrorism concerns.

5. (SBU) Following is the shipping data for the
consignment:

- 158 barrels of Phosphorus Pentasulfide, total weight
39.5 Metric Tons
- Container i.d. numbers YMLU 3041732 and YMLU 3073745
- Yang Ming Line's vessel, the YM Plum will ship the
cargo

6. (SBU) The entire shipping schedule is as follows:

Aug 2 depart Kaohsiung Yang Ming's YM Plum
Aug 5 arrive Singapore
Aug 8 depart Singapore on Asian Mediterranean Shuttle
vessel AMS Glory Bridge
Aug 20 arrive Port Said, Egypt
Aug 21 depart Port Said, Egypt on AMS Glory Bridge
Aug 24 arrive Genoa, Italy
Aug 25 depart Genoa, on AMS Glory Bridge
Aug 26 Livorno, Italy with shipment by ground transport
to Italmat Chemical's facility.

7. (SBU) AIT/K staff will observe the loading of the
containers onto the YM Plum on 2 August. AIT/K took
numerous photographs of the entire loading and movement
operation, and will forward the photos to AIT/T for
dissemination to interested parties.

Johnson

Paal

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