KNS (Kenya Navy Ship) Shupavu (P6130) was the sharp end of a mission that saw a thousand-plus kilogrammes of methamphetamine seized from a stateless dhow 547 nautical miles off Mombasa.

The dhow, codenamed Igor as part of a multi-agency operation, had been under observation by international drug enforcement agencies according to the Kenya Ministry of Defence and evaded prior efforts to be stopped and boarded. This ended when the Shupavu successfully intercepted, boarded and confiscated drugs valued at Ksh8.2 billion ($63.5 million), a Sunday October 26 statement has it.

The operation that saw the dhow’s illegal cargo removed was codenamed Bahari Safi (“clean sea” in Swahili) 2025.01 and managed under the Safe Seas Africa (SSA) programme. Co-ordination was the responsibility of the Regional Coordination Operations Centre (RCOC) in the Seychelles, and Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre (RMIFC) in Madagascar and Seychelles who provided a maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), in all probability a Dornier 228.

In the wake of a successful VBSS (visit, board, search and seizure) Shupavu escorted the dhow to the Port of Mombasa where the multi-agency team will further investigate ahead of prosecution of six suspects. Court warrants for further inspection and testing are in hand, the Kenya Defence Ministry said.

The stateless dhow was crewed by six Iranians. The methamphetamine on board was found to have a purity of 98 per cent, according to sampling by the Government Chemist. It will be destroyed, Kenya’s Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said.

The successful operation showcased the commitment of agencies, navies and others overseeing transnational crimes in the western Indian Ocean, the Kenyan Ministry of Defence said.

Kenyan media report October’s methamphetamine bust as the second-largest narcotics haul in the country’s history, after 1.1 tonnes of cocaine was seized by police in Nairobi and Malindi in 2006.

Shupavu was acquired by the Kenya Navy in 1997 and underwent what open source information has a “significant mid-life refit” starting in 2021 at Kenya Shipyards Limited (KSL) in Mombasa before returning to service. The refit saw her engines and generators replaced with, among others, electrical systems and navigation equipment and instrumentation upgraded.

• A Tell Media report