MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st August, 2018) A man claiming to be an officer of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) did not let the observers of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (OSCE SMM) to access Russian tanker Mekhanik Pogodin detained in the Ukrainian port of Kherson, OSCE SMM said on Monday.
On August 10, Ukrainian Presidential Representative in Crimea Borys Babin, based in Kherson, said that the SBU intended to detain Russian vessel Mekhanik Pogodin which was docked in the port of Kherson and belonged to a Russian company sanctioned by Kiev. Babin clarified that there was no decision yet to seize the ship. The chairman of the Russian Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights Mikhail Fedotov called the situation with the Russian tanker detained in Ukraine a madness.
"On 17 August, the SMM followed up on reports of the Mekhanik Pogodin tanker moored in a port in the south-western outskirts of Kherson city. At the entrance gate of an oil terminal on Marii Fortus Street, a man, who introduced himself as a member of the Security Service of Ukraine, told the SMM that it needed to obtain prior permission from the port authorities to access the facility. The SMM will follow up on this matter," the mission said in its report.
According to the information on the website of V.F. Tanker shipping company, the Mekhanik Pogodin vessel is struggling to get permission to leave the port. On August 17, the company said it had not received a list of claims, and neither the customs nor the border service had responded to the request to grant permission to leave. The captain of the port refused the request citing a letter from the border service, which has not yet been presented.
The company also reported that the ship itself had no technical obstacles to departure, as the crew is fully staffed, the port charges have been paid.
Another Russian vessel was seized in March by the Ukrainian coast guard in the neutral waters of the Sea of Azov. The vessel is registered in Crimea, which Ukraine regards as its territory. Moscow has demanded the immediate release of the "illegally detained" crew and the return of the vessel to its legitimate owner. A Ukrainian court, however, authorized the arrest of the captain, with Ukrainian border guards preventing the crew from leaving the country.
Crimea rejoined Russia in 2014. Kiev did not recognize the move, but Moscow repeatedly stated that the referendum when the overwhelming majority of Crimeans supported the move, was held in accordance with international norms.
