KIEV, July 30. /TASS/. A court in Kiev has arrested the Russian tanker that was detained in the port of Izmail on July 25, Chief Military Prosecutor Anatoly Matios reported on Tuesday.
“After considering a corresponding request the court arrested the aforesaid ship and the documents confiscated during the search,” Matios said on Facebook.
According to Matios, investigative activities on the ship without permission from the Russian consul were legal.
“In accordance with the applicable international treaties ratified by Russia and Ukraine there is no need for obtaining consent or permission from a representative of the diplomatic mission or consular office of a foreign state for conducting investigative actions on a sea-going or river ship in the Ukrainian territory. We did that legally,” he said.
According to the copy of the document the chief military prosecutor uploaded, the decision to impose an arrest may be protested in the Odessa Court of Appeal within five days. The decision to arrest the ship is dated July 29.
The Ukrainian security service SBU and the office of the military prosecutor detained the tanker Nika Spirit with a crew of ten on board in the port of Izmail, the Odessa Region, on July 25. The ship was identified as the tanker Neyma, which allegedly blocked the Ukrainian ships during the Kerch Strait incident. The SBU called the ship material evidence and a request for its arrest was about to be lodged with a court.
At the same time the SBU admitted that the crew had neither violated maritime legislation nor Ukrainian laws, thus there were no reasons for its arrest. On Friday, July 26, the crew of the detained tanker returned to Russia. The ship’s owner Fos Shipping Management (Gelendzhik) told TASS all the sailors were well.
