A vessel of the Russian “shadow” fleet is arrested in Odesa
10 December 13:11
A vessel of the Russian “shadow” fleet that was illegally transporting Ukrainian agricultural products from the temporarily occupied Crimea was arrested in the port of Odesa. The bulk carrier arrived in Odesa flying the flag of an African country to export a shipment of steel pipes.
This was reported by the SBU press service on December 10, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
According to the investigation, the ship’s owner was under NSDC sanctions. To circumvent the restrictive measures, he repeatedly changed the name of the vessel and formal beneficiaries from other countries.
On the eve of the full-scale invasion, the vessel docked in Sevastopol at least seven times to export agricultural products in the interests of the Russian Federation. In particular, at the end of January 2021, the bulk carrier transported almost seven thousand tons of grain to North Africa.
When the ship was detained, there were 17 people on board: the captain and 16 crew members, who are citizens of several Middle Eastern countries. Voyage plans, pilotage cards, cartographic materials and radio communication logs with evidence of illegal entry into the ports of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine were found on the ship.
Investigators opened criminal proceedings under Part 3 of Article 110-2, Part 1 of Article 111, Article 291, Part 2 and Part 3 of Article 332-1. The ship was seized. The boat will be handed over to the NACP.
