Ukrainian general cargo ship IZMAIL arrived at Burgas anchorage, Bulgaria, on Oct 18, from Istanbul, with cargo of salt. She was berthed on Oct 22 and salt offloading commenced. The ship was to sail back to Turkey to undergo planned repairs, but suddenly, a new order from owner came: IZMAIL was to sail to Ukraine after offloading cargo. Ship’s Captain, Anatoly Bokhatirov, fearing all crew (all crew are of Ukrainian nationality) would be mobilized and sent to war, refused to obey order, saying that he’s ready to take ship anywhere but Ukraine, says Bulgarian edition Flagman.bg. All but one crew didn’t side with the Captain, disobeyed him and left the ship. They returned to Ukraine. Captain and one his follower remain on board, not sure what to do. They can hardly apply for asylum in EU, and they apparently, can’t take the ship anywhere, IZMAIL as it stands now, can’t even shift the berth, let alone port or country. . As of Oct 29, the ship remained berthed at Burgas, a new crew from Ukraine is to arrive soon, to take the ship over and return to Ukraine.
The opinions expressed herein are the author’s and not necessarily those of News2Sea.
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