MSC Gayane is owned by J.P. Morgan Asset Management

The MSC Gayane, which is owned by J.P. Morgan Asset Management and chartered to MSC, is subject to possible forfeiture. PHOTO: DOMINICK REUTER/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

7-9-19   U.S. authorities have seized a large container ship operated by Switzerland-based Mediterranean Shipping Co., three weeks after customs authorities found 20 tons of cocaine on the vessel.

The MSC Gayane, which is owned by J.P. Morgan Asset Management and chartered to MSC, the world’s second-biggest container ship operator by capacity, is “subject to possible forfeiture,” U.S. Attorney William McSwain said in a statement.

Built in 2018, the ship has capacity for around 10,000 containers and is worth about $90 million. It is anchored at the Delaware River near the Philadelphia port and is expected to stay there for an extended period, according to people involved in the matter.

”A seizure of a vessel this massive is complicated and unprecedented—but it is appropriate because the circumstances here are also unprecedented,” Mr. McSwain said. “When a vessel brings such an outrageous amount of deadly drugs into Philadelphia waters, my office will pursue the most severe consequences possible against all involved parties in order to protect our district—and our country.”  The Gayane was raided on June 17 by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents who found about 20 tons of cocaine with a street value of $1.3 billion stashed in several containers.  The ship had sailed from Freeport in the Bahamas and before that it called in Panama and Peru after starting its voyage in Chile.  It was due to sail on to Europe after the U.S. stop.