Ukrainian authorities seize ship involved in transporting grain from Crimea
A ship captain operating under an African flag has been implicated in assisting Russians to smuggle grain from Crimea. The individual involved reportedly disabled the vessel’s GPS tracker to avoid detection and falsified records of the ship's routes and stops.
A cargo ship and its captain, who reportedly worked for the Russian Federation, have been detained in the waters off the Odessa region. The captain aided the Russian side in transporting stolen Ukrainian grain from the occupied Crimean Peninsula, according to the Ukrainian Security Service's (SBU) press release.
Notably, the captain periodically turned off the vessel’s GPS tracker to mask the illegal activity and logged false information regarding the ship's routes and ports of call.
"The ship sailed under the flag of one of the African states, and its crew carried out Russia's orders to transport Ukrainian grain from Crimea. Throughout 2023-2024, the vessel repeatedly docked at the port of Sevastopol to collect the looted agricultural products," the SBU reports.
Additionally, it has been revealed that this cargo ship, after concealing its activities, transported the grain to Middle Eastern countries for subsequent sale benefitting Russia.
During a search of the vessel, documents, navigational instruments, and other evidence of the criminal activities were found.
The ship has been towed to Odessa and seized by court order.