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Detained ship confiscated by Ukraine for illegal transporting grain from Russian occupied Crimea

On Oct 8, a Ukrainian court order authorized the confiscation of the 'Usko MFU', which had been initially detained in July for transporting 3000 tons of grain from the Russian occupied Crimea to a Turkish company. Following the detention, the captain and the second officer of the vessel were charged for illegally transporting goods from occupied territories in violation of both Ukrainian and international laws and are facing five years in prison.The ownership of the vessel, which originally belonged to Usko Shipping of Turkey, was transferred to the Ukrainian government.

Officer of detained ship charged by Ukraine may face five years in prison

Ukrainian authorities have charged a second senior officer of the 'Usko MFU', who was detained since July for trading in Crimea , which was annexed by Russia. The region’s exiled prosecutors’ office, still under the control of the Kyiv government, filed charges against the man on Sep 25. He was facing up to five years in prison, as does the master of Azerbaijan nationality, who was commanding the ship when Ukraine arrested it in July. Kyiv has vowed to prosecute all vessels trading in Black Sea ports brought under Moscow’s control after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Ukraine managed to get its hands on the 'Usko MFU' because it sailed within the reach of Kyiv authorities just a few months after calling in Sevastopol in Crimea. The authorities seized the vessel in early July in the Danube near the Ukrainian port of Reni, where it has been held since. The ship had loaded more than 3,000 tonnes of agricultural products in Sevastopol in November 2023, destined to Turkey.

Ship detained in Reni

Ukraine's security services have seized the Usko Mfu for allegedly transporting grain illegally through the closed Black Sea ports of Russian-occupied Crimea, the country's General Prosecutor’s Office said on July 11, 2024. The ship had entered and exited the Port of Sevastopol on the occupied Crimean peninsula in November 2023 and again this May, violating a Ukrainian ban and international maritime law. While in Sevastopol the cargo ship was loaded with more than 3,000 tons of grain and subsequently entered the Port of Sevastopol to unload cargo from Turkey. The investigators argued the ship’s crew knew they were violating international law, because before entering Sevastopol they switched off the AIS, making its movements harder to track. The prosecutors detained the vessel on the basis of a court order. On board they discovered documents issued by the Sevastopol trade port administration to the crew. The ship’s captain, an Azerbaijani citizen, is also suspected of illegally crossing the border of the occupied part of Ukraine. The Ukrainian court must now decide what measures to take against the ship's captain, and must turn the vessel over to a state agency that handles seized assets.