SWORD LION

The vessel has been implicated in a grain theft scheme involving the export of stolen Ukrainian grain from the temporarily occupied territory (TOT) of Crimea, Ukraine, to Turkey, by reloading in a russian port grain previously exported from the TOT of Crimea, Ukraine, by the vessel Akubens (IMO 8891364).
On 2 July 2023, Sword Lion arrived in the Kerch Strait from Port Karadeniz Ereğli (Turkey) with a draft of 6 metres and remained there until 27 July 2023. It then increased its draft to 9.6 metres and proceeded to the outer anchorage of Port Haifa (Israel). The declared recipient of the agricultural cargo was the Israeli company ADM Industries Centers Ltd (Beit Dagan). According to the company’s official records, Sword Lion delivered a shipment of barley labelled as having European origin — a claim that was false.
The vessel arrived at Haifa’s outer anchorage on 3 August 2023 but did not enter the port, likely due to the public disclosure of the grain theft scheme. Between 9 and 10 August 2023, the vessel sailed to the coast of Cyprus and anchored at the outer roads of Port Famagusta, remaining there until 15 August 2023 without entering port, likely for the same reasons. It subsequently proceeded to the anchorage of Port Iskenderun (Turkey), where, after six days at anchor with AIS disabled, it entered the port and discharged the grain at a berth operated by a subsidiary of the russian Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Plant.
In 2025, the vessel calls at ports in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.