AMUR-2501

The vessel has been implicated in grain theft schemes involving the port of Sevastopol (TOT of Crimea, Ukraine), with the Automatic Identification System (AIS) disabled, and in the export of this grain to third countries through ship-to-ship (STS) transshipment in the Kerch Strait area.
In particular, the vessel made a port call at the closed port of Sevastopol on 4– 5 July 2022 with AIS switched on, confirming its violation of Ukraine’s state border. Between 17– 20 July 2022, the vessel’s AIS was disabled; during this period, it called at the port of Sevastopol and loaded 3,000 tonnes of barley at the grain terminal in Dokova Bay (owned by Avlita and controlled by the United Shipbuilding Corporation (Объединённая судостроительная корпорация, USC)). On 19 July 2022, the vessel departed Sevastopol Bay and proceeded to conduct STS operations in the Kerch Strait. On 20 July 2022, AIS was enabled again. Evidence confirming port calls at the TOT of Crimea, Ukraine was recorded by the vessel’s master and published on a social media platform.
The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine served the vessel’s master with a notice of suspicion for violating the procedure for entering and leaving the temporarily occupied territory. In 2022, the vessel was arrested in absentia by a Ukrainian court.