SINGAPORE: A shipment of nine armoured military vehicles used by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) was delayed at Hong Kong's Kwai Chung Container Terminal, confirmed Singapore's Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) on Thursday (Nov 24).
In a statement, MINDEF said it was a shipment of Terrex Infantry Carrier Vehicles (ICVs) and associated equipment used by the SAF for overseas training. It was delayed "due to a request for routine inspections by the Hong Kong Customs authorities."
According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) earlier on Thursday, preliminary investigations showed that the armoured vehicles were being shipped from Taiwan to Singapore.
An unnamed government source with knowledge of the matter told SCMP: "Hong Kong was not its final destination. It is not known why the consignment was unloaded here."
SCMP added that the seizure was made at the terminal on Wednesday after 12 containers were unloaded from a vessel arriving from Taiwan. Apple Daily said the containers had been shipped from Kaohsiung.
MINDEF said Singapore authorities are providing relevant assistance to the Hong Kong Customs and expect the shipment to return to Singapore "expeditiously".
It added that the Terrex ICVs were used by the SAF in routine overseas training and shipped back via commercial means as with previous exercises.
