CRYSTAL GALAXY

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Technical failure in Canakkale Strait

The "Crystal Galaxy", en route from Alexandria to Istanbul in ballast, suffered technical failure and sheltered south of the Canakkale Strait entrance anchorage, under its own power on July 13, 2018, at 11 p.m. Repairs were carried out by the crew on site.

Freighter violating sanctions struck off registries

At least two countries have struck the "Crystal Galaxy" and "Snow White" off their registries in recent weeks after the ships were involved in transporting grains from Crimea to Syria. The ageing cargo ships have been used to transport cargoes from the Crimean peninsula to Syria, which have been actively involved in the trade. In June the "Snow White" loaded grain in Crimea, bound for Syria. The "Crystal Galaxy" had been de-registered, while a number of vessels were continuing to use the Tanzanian flag fraudulently. Sierra Leone’s maritime administration confirmed separately that both the "Crystal Galaxy" and the "Snow White" had subsequently been cancelled from its flag registry. The "Snow White"’s owner, Eldora Shipping Company, and the "Crystal Galaxy"’s, Crystal Galaxy Shipping Co, did not respond to requests. The Ukrainian side will continue to monitor the situation closely to ensure compliance by all ship owners, ship operators and ship masters. Ships involved in such activity were switching off tracking transponders when approaching waters close to Crimean ports. As a result, the safety and security of navigation in the area have been severely compromised. Some of the other ships involved in the transport of grain cargoes have included Syrian-flagged vessels "Souria", "Laodicea" and "Finikia", which were added to a U.S. blacklist in 2015.