Ukraine confiscated a foreign ship for exporting grain from the occupied Crimea

Ukraine confiscated the dry cargo USKO MFU under the flag of Cameroon, which was illegally exporting grain through the closed sea ports of the occupied Crimea.

This was reported by the State Border Service of Ukraine.

In November 2023, the ship USKO MFU under the flag of Cameroon, violating the laws of Ukraine and the norms of international law, entered the port of Sevastopol — there it loaded more than 3 thousand tons of agricultural products intended for a Turkish company. At the same time, the ship turned off the AIS automatic identification system, that is, the GPS tracker, in order to mask its route. This is a gross violation of maritime security requirements.

At the end of May 2024, the ship entered the closed port of Sevastopol for the second time with the system turned off, where it unloaded cargo from Turkey. Then the ship left the port, indicating Istanbul as the destination, but appeared in one of the ports of Moldova. Already in July, the dry cargo was detained in the water area of the port of Reni, Odesa region.

According to the courtʼs decision, the ship was transferred to the ownership of Ukraine. Its captain, a citizen of Azerbaijan, is accused of violating the procedure for entering the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, because any operations in the ports of Crimea or the Sea of Azov violate international norms and legislation of Ukraine.

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