No al Qaeda clues on ship

South Korea says it found nothing unusual on a Greek-owned ship after a search sparked by a tip-off it could be carrying members of al Qaeda.

"Joint investigation agencies have searched the ship for weapons or forged passports but have not found anything unusual," a Kunsan port official said.

Meanwhile, New Zealand Customs yesterday said it would not reveal why the ship that visited New Zealand was subjected to top-level security checks saying the information was "sensitive".

The Athena visited Auckland and Tauranga before arriving in Lyttelton on October 2 and leaving for South Korea on October 4.