Ukrainian Court Confiscates Turkish Cargo Ship That Entered Crimea

A court in Ukraine has authorized the state seizure of a cargo ship that was detained on charges of repeatedly entering occupied Crimea to carry out commercial activities. Ownership of the vessel, Usko MFU (2,850 dwt), was transferred to Ukraine while two of the vessel’s officers have also been charged with “damaging state interests” by engaging in commercial activities in the occupied areas.

The State Border Service of Ukraine announced it has taken possession of the vessel which was built in 1982. According to media reports the vessel was valued at $600,000. Databases list its ownership as Usko Shipping of Turkey.

The ship was detained by the Ukrainian authorities in July while it was sailing outbound on the Danube reportedly loaded with barley bound for Greece. The Ukrainian Navy detained the ship and later placed it under arrest under the authorization of the court. There were 12 crew aboard, including five from Turkey and seven from Azerbaijan.

Ukraine asserts that the ship entered Crimea in October 2023 and loaded more than 3,000 tons of agricultural products for a Turkish company.  They also determined that the ship entered Sevastopol in May 2024 after turning off its AIS transmission. The ship unloaded an unspecified cargo in Crimea. It made another trip into Crimea in June 2024 also loading agricultural products for export. Ukraine asserts it was a violation of international maritime law as well as Ukrainian legislation which makes it illegal to conduct commerce in the occupied regions.

Two officers reported to have captained the vessel are also being detained and facing prosecution. Charges were brought against the first captain after the ship was detained and the second individual was charged after the Ukrainian authorities reviewed information from the ship’s logs.

Usko Shipping told Lloyd’s List that the activity in Crimea was before it acquired the vessel. Databases list the company as having acquired the vessel, which is registered in Cameroon, in March 2024.

It is the first prosecution of a vessel for entering Crimea although Ukraine has detained at least one other vessel. Media reports from Ukraine said the court has ordered the seizure of five vessels and a total of 59 have been charged with violations and subject to seizure. The court also in the past ordered the seizure of a dozen Russian commercial aircraft on similar charges.