Belgian customs authorities have seized a substantial quantity of cocaine from the MT Scot Bremen, a Malta-flagged chemical tanker operated by Istanbul-based Scot Tankers, at the port of Zeebrugge. The operation, which took place over the weekend, led to the detention of 13 individuals, Belgian media reported Monday.
The vessel, built in 2003, had departed from Pecem, a mid-sized Brazilian port increasingly used by drug trafficking networks, and anchored off the coast of Ostend on June 20. According to a company statement, the ship’s captain discovered five crew members attempting to conceal suspicious packages while awaiting a pilot on June 22.
Reacting swiftly, the captain cancelled pilotage operations, secured the packages as evidence, isolated the crew members involved, and alerted Belgian customs and maritime police. Authorities commended the captain’s initiative and cooperation, which played a critical role in triggering the investigation.
Due to poor weather, boarding was initially delayed. The Scot Bremen was permitted to dock at Zeebrugge on June 23, where customs officers discovered what was described by local press as “hundreds of kilograms of cocaine.” Officials have not yet disclosed the exact amount.
The investigation expanded onshore as eight additional suspects were arrested the previous night at a marina in Blankenberge, roughly 15 nautical miles from the ship’s anchorage. According to reports, they were preparing to launch a small boat, possibly to rendezvous with the vessel and retrieve the illicit cargo. A magistrate in Bruges has ordered their detention on suspicion of forming a criminal organization, although no formal trafficking charges have been filed yet.
Scot Tankers, owned by Turkish maritime entrepreneur Muzaffer Özgür Ebcim, emphasized in a public statement that neither the company nor the ship’s captain are implicated in the incident. “The captain’s cooperation and initiative were acknowledged by both the police and the prosecutors,” the company stated, adding that it maintains a “zero-tolerance” policy on drug offenses and has since arranged for a new crew to operate the vessel.
The Scot Bremen, formerly named Wappen von Bremen, is part of a fleet expansion conducted by Scot Tankers in 2015, when the company acquired eight sister vessels from Germany’s Hansa Hamburg Shipping in a $50 million deal. The tanker normally operates in Northern Europe, North America, and the Mediterranean but made two rare calls this year to Pecem—one in April and another in early June—according to AIS tracking data.
Authorities in Brazil have long warned that secondary ports like Pecem are increasingly exploited by traffickers due to lighter security compared to major hubs like Santos and Rio de Janeiro.
This latest bust marks the eighth case in three years involving Turkish-owned ships implicated in major drug seizures. Altogether, over 28 tons of cocaine have been intercepted on these vessels, with an estimated street value exceeding $10 billion.
In January, the French Navy intercepted nine tons of cocaine from another Turkish-operated cargo ship, further highlighting Turkey’s growing entanglement in global cocaine trafficking networks.
Belgian authorities have not yet disclosed when formal charges will be filed, but investigations are ongoing in coordination with international partners.
