Blacklist: Despite EU sanctions, the Italian gas tanker SYN ATLAS was loaded in occupied Kerch (Crimea) – Investigation

Map via ShippingExplorer

On July 28-29, 2014, the BSNews monitoring group and Maidan Foreign Affairs reported that Italian gas tanker SYN ATLAS 2014 was loaded in the Kerch Sea Fishing Port – a clear violation of resolutions with regard to the occupation and annexation of Crimea that were approved by international organizations and Ukrainian legislation.

The ship docked for loading at the LNG terminal on 2014-07-28 20:56 (LT), and left the port on 2014-07-29 13:52 (LT).

The investigation showed that it was not the first time that the ship had entered the port of Kerch after the annexation of Crimea.

Official

By calling at ports of the occupied and annexed Crimean peninsula, ship owners, captains and crews are committing a crime under Article 332-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

This Article was added to the Criminal Code through the Law “On the rights and freedoms of citizens and the legal regime in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine.”

Under this legislative act, crew members of a vessel entering Crimean waters fall under administrative and criminal liability before Ukraine for illegal border crossing and violation of entry into occupied territory.

Sooner or later, such violations may lead to severe penalties for crew members, the ship owner and captain, or even more serious consequences, such as the arrest of the vessel or other vessels of the ship owner in Ukrainian or foreign ports.

Criminal Code of Ukraine

Article 332-1. Violation of entering and leaving the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine

1. Violation of entering and leaving the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine for the purpose of harming interests of the state –

punishable by imprisonment for up to three years with forfeiture of means of transport.

2. The same acts committed repeatedly or by prior conspiracy, or by an official through abuse of office –

punishable by imprisonment for three to five years with deprivation of the right to occupy certain positions or engage in certain activities up to three years and forfeiture of means of transport.

3. Acts provided for in the first and second paragraph of this Article, if committed by an organized group –

punishable by imprisonment for five to eight years with deprivation of the right to occupy certain positions or engage in certain activities for three years and forfeiture of vehicles “…

The BSNews Editorial staff and Maidan Foreign Affairs (Kyiv) state that Ukrainian law enforcement agencies and readers should be aware that these published materials are not just information reports for the media, but documented facts showing that a crime has been committed or that there is a suspicion of crime.

We ask the companies mentioned in the article to respond to this information by e-mail: [email protected], or in writing to: Maidan Foreign Affairs, Blackseanews Editorial Office, 13 vul. Triokhsviatytelska, Office 13, Kyiv, Ukraine, 01001.

The fact that BSNews and its partner Maidan Foreign Affairs (Kyiv) have listed these vessels and ship owners on the Blacklist of offenders with respect to the legal regime of the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine means that we intend to strengthen our monitoring activities in relation to the vessel and the ship owner and organize other actions through administrative, diplomatic, naval and legal channels …

We stress that there are great potential opportunities for these actions …

BSNews has often mentioned the resolution adopted on March 27, 2014 by the UN General Assembly.  The resolution, which was supported by 100 UN member states affirmed the United Nations commitment to recognize Crimea within Ukraine’s international borders.

 …The General Assembly

1. reaffirms its commitment to the sovereignty, political independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders;

2. calls upon all States to refuse and to refrain from actions aimed at the partial or total disruption of national unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including any attempt to change the border of Ukraine through threats or use of force or other unlawful means;

….

5. stresses that the referendum held in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol on March 16, 2014, having no legal force, cannot be the basis for any change in the status of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol;

6. calls upon all States, international organizations and specialized institutions not to recognize any change in the status of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol that are based the referendum, and to refrain from any actions or steps that could be interpreted as an admission of changed status …

We would like to thank all the volunteers who were involved in this project from the very beginning, and we invite readers of BSNews to take part in our Blacklist Project.

BSNews expresses its gratitude to ShippingExplorer for allowing its staff to use  specialized software during the preparation of the project – Today, in Black and Azov Sea Ports.

Data:
www.marinetraffic.com; www.shipspotting.com

Translated by Christine Chraibi

Source: http://www.blackseanews.net/read/84476