The cargo m/v 'Matros Koshka', which has been blamed by the Ukraine for transporting grain stolen from Ukraine, popped up on AIS on June 9, 2022, after a 9-day period of the transmitter being switched off, which lasted from May 30. The ship’s AIS track and records confirmed the Ukrainian suspicions. Obviously, during the 9-day period of being off the radars, the ship called an unidentified port to offload cargo, most probably a Syrian port. Previous track and records confirmed another Ukrainian allegation, that the vessel, along with other bulk carriers, was involved in suspiciously looking voyages, including the 'Matros Poznych', which was covertly loaded with grain in Sevastopol, which had a gap in the Black sea sailing track and records, lasting from May 18 until May 24.
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DELTA POSEIDON
Maritime authorities in Greece have called for international help to release the crews of the 'Delta Poseidon' and 'Prudent Warrior', which were seized by the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Persian Gulf last week in a tit-for-tat move. The Greek Merchant Marine Minister Ioannis Plakiotakis described the incident as a threat to the security of shipping and commerce. "We call on all nations to act to put an end to this unacceptable incident and ensure that it does not happen again," he said on June 3. On June 2, the Greek Coast Guard and independent monitoring services said the two tankers were moored off the port of Bandar Abbas north of Larak island in pos. 26.91895° N, 56.38144° E. At least nine Greek nationals and one Cypriot were on board. Tehran has stated that the crews were in good health and had not been detained. Both Germany and France's foreign ministries have also condemned the seizure of the tankers and called on Tehran to release the ships with their crew. The Iranian government called the statements "biased" and "inappropriate interference".
MATROS KOSHKA
The 'Matros Koshka', which has been blamed by the Ukraine for transporting grain stolen from Ukraine, popped up on AIS on June 9, 2022, after a 9-day period of the transmitter being switched off, which lasted from May 30. The ship’s AIS track and records confirmed the Ukrainian suspicions. Obviously, during the 9-day period of being off the radars, the ship called an unidentified port to offload cargo, most probably a Syrian port. Previous track and records confirmed another Ukrainian allegation, that the vessel, along with other bulk carriers, was involved in suspiciously looking voyages, including the 'Matros Poznych', which was covertly loaded with grain in Sevastopol, which had a gap in the Black sea sailing track and records, lasting from May 18 until May 24.
TZAREVNA
The Italian shipowner Fratelli Cosulich has enlisted the help of Italy's government in an attempt to stop Russian officials from seizing the 'Tzarevna', one of several foreign-flagged merchant vessels at Mariupol that are vulnerable to potential seizure by Russian forces, which may use the ships to abscond with cargoes of steel. Russian state-controlled media has confirmed that extraction of Ukrainian metal cargo for shipment to Russian ports is currently under way. Someone presented himself to the local agent of the 'Tzarevna' in the name of the Donetsk Republic and would make an offer to buy the ship, but at a ridiculous value. They made a blackmail, an offer that could not even be taken into consideration. The 'Tsarevna' is laden with 15,000 tons of steel slabs for export to Italy. The cargo was produced by Metinvest's massive Azovstal plant, which was destroyed during the Russian siege of the city. The fate of the vessel and her cargo are unclear, but the news is that the Russians are taking everything, ship and cargo. The Pro-Russian separatist leader Denis Pushilin appeared to confirm this impression in comments on June 1. "Part of the [local] courts will pass into the jurisdiction of the [Russian-controlled] DPR. Appropriate decisions have already been made on this. These ships will be renamed. The flags that will be on them are also already clear.” The governor of the Liguria region, Giovanni Toti, has expressed his support for Cosulich and has reached out to Italian foreign minister Luigi Di Maio for support. "What is happening with the ship owned by a company of the Fratelli Cosulich Group, based in Genoa, is inadmissible and serious. [Di Maio] has already assured us of the full commitment of the [foreign ministry] to avoid this significant damage to our country and to one of the main Italian shipping groups." Like half a dozen other merchant ships stuck at Ukrainian ports, the 'Tsarevna' was struck by an explosive projectile in the early days of the Russian war against the Ukraine. There was shrapnel damage to her deckhouse and isolated damage to her hull.
PRUDENT WARRIOR
Maritime authorities in Greece have called for international help to release the crews of the 'Delta Poseidon' and 'Prudent Warrior', which were seized by the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Persian Gulf last week in a tit-for-tat move. The Greek Merchant Marine Minister Ioannis Plakiotakis described the incident as a threat to the security of shipping and commerce. "We call on all nations to act to put an end to this unacceptable incident and ensure that it does not happen again," he said on June 3. On June 2, the Greek Coast Guard and independent monitoring services said the two tankers were moored off the port of Bandar Abbas north of Larak island in pos. 26.91895° N, 56.38144° E. At least nine Greek nationals and one Cypriot were on board. Tehran has stated that the crews were in good health and had not been detained. Both Germany and France's foreign ministries have also condemned the seizure of the tankers and called on Tehran to release the ships with their crew. The Iranian government called the statements "biased" and "inappropriate interference".