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| Cameroon-flagged vessel calling in Sevastopol arrested in Ukraine |
| 2024-07-12 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [Regnum] A dry cargo ship sailing under the Cameroon flag was arrested in the Odessa region. Earlier, the Usko Mfu vessel called in Sevastopol, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office reported on July 11. It is specified that Usko Mfu was detained in the port of the city of Reni, and then arrested. Ukrainian security forces also detained the captain of the dry cargo ship, a citizen of Azerbaijan, accusing him of "violating the procedure for entering Crimea." Searches were conducted on board the dry cargo ship, during which ship documentation, the AIS ship identification system, a computer, as well as documentation issued by the administration of the Sevastopol Sea Trade Port were seized. According to the Ukrainian side, in November last year, Usko Mfu left Sevastopol loaded with grain weighing more than three thousand tons, intended for a Turkish company. In May of this year, it again called at the port of Sevastopol, where it unloaded cargo from Turkey. Subsequently, the dry cargo ship left the port, indicating the destination as Istanbul, but in reality, it allegedly called at one of the ports of Moldova. The prosecutor's office claims that before entering the port of Sevastopol, the ship's AIS was allegedly switched off "to conceal illegal activity." Ukrainian authorities accused the crew of violating maritime safety requirements and Ukrainian legislation and are currently deciding on a preventive measure for the captain. As reported by Regnum News Agency, in March 2018, Ukrainian border guards detained the fishing vessel Nord, registered in Crimea, in the Sea of ​​Azov, accusing the crew of violating the procedure for leaving the territory of the Russian peninsula. The sailors' passports were confiscated and the Russian consul was not allowed to see them. Seven crew members were able to return to Russia only in October 2018 after they were exchanged for seven Ukrainian citizens - members of the crew of the vessel YAMK-0041. The captain was able to return to Russia only in February 2019. |
| Posted by:badanov |