Egyptian military detained Ukrainian tanker

Egyptian military detained Sea Shark tanker with Ukrainian sailors, whose life was threatened

It is reported by "Ukrinform" with reference to the letter of captain Vitaly Nesterenko, who specified that the admiral of the Egyptian fleet Mustafa together with the officers boarded on May 18 and said that the ship should be unloaded, otherwise the movement would be blocked.

The admiral warned that "if someone does not fulfill the order, he will use force." Fleet officers behaved very aggressively towards the crew of the tanker, threatening with weapons.

"The situation on board is very critical! The life of the crew is at stake! We are all hostages until the cargo is illegally unloaded by people who work in the fleet," the letter says.

According to the agency, the tanker was loaded 1.1 million barrels of crude oil. Now the ship is at anchor in the area of ​​the popular Egyptian resort of Ain Sokhna, but it is going to be moved.

"Following the instructions of the fleet, the crew was divided into two groups and assembled in two smokehouses. Some crew members felt very bad due to high blood pressure. We asked to arrange a visit to the doctor. The naval forces refused," the captain added.

According to him, even those who have health problems were not allowed to stay in cabins. The Egyptian military seized phones, banning crew members from calling even the embassy or family members.

Captain Nesterenko asked to send his message to Interpol, the UN and other organizations. The crew of the tanker consists of 31 people: 17 citizens of Ukraine, 2 sailors from the Crimea, one Azerbaijani and 11 people from the Philippines, Sri Lanka and India.

It clarifies that at the end of November 2018 the tanker stopped at the port of Suez. Then the Panamanian registration ended and you need to change the flag. The Egyptian authorities fined the owner $ 56 million for "illegal entry" into the territorial waters of Egypt, the vessel was arrested.

Deputy Director of the Consular Service Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Vasyl Kyrylych told the Ukrainian Pravda that the embassy sent a note to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry demanding clarification.

"The Embassy sent a note to the Foreign Ministry of Egypt with a request to provide clarification on the situation that has developed and to allow visiting the vessel by consular officials. This case is under special control of the Department of Consular Services," he said.

Read also

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• Crew "Nord" was released
• Crimean seamen can stay out of work