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Houthi-Controlled Port Receives Vessel from Occupied Crimea After UN Inspection Body Grants Clearance
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2024/07/12/houthi-controlled-port-receives-vessel-from-occupied-crimea-after-un-inspection-body-grants-clearance/Houthi-Controlled Port Receives Vessel from Occupied Crimea After UN Inspection Body Grants Clearance
July 12, 2024
This article is the result of a joint investigation by Bellingcat and Lloyd’s List. The Lloyd’s List version of this piece can be found here.
A Russian flagged vessel was granted clearance by a UN inspection body to call at a Houthi-controlled port after surreptitiously exporting grain from a western sanctioned terminal in occupied Crimea, an investigation by Bellingcat and Lloyd’s List has found.
The bulk carrier, Zafar (IMO: 9720263), switched off its Automated Identification System (AIS) – that allows it to be tracked by shipping services and which commercial vessels are mandated to keep on unless in danger – when it visited the Port of Sevastopol in May this year.
[...]
While there is no suggested illegality with this shipment, experts say it creates an awkward situation where a UN mechanism has waved through a grain shipment from occupied Ukrainian territory despite Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and the fact that member nations have repeatedly voted against Russia’s actions towards its neighbour.
The UN General Assembly has passed a number of resolutions against Russia’s invasion of Crimea and eastern Ukraine dating as far back as 2014. It also demanded Russia withdraw all military forces from Ukrainian territory following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. But unlike some resolutions from the Security Council, on which Russia sits and has a veto, General Assembly votes are not legally binding.
[...]
July 12, 2024
This article is the result of a joint investigation by Bellingcat and Lloyd’s List. The Lloyd’s List version of this piece can be found here.
A Russian flagged vessel was granted clearance by a UN inspection body to call at a Houthi-controlled port after surreptitiously exporting grain from a western sanctioned terminal in occupied Crimea, an investigation by Bellingcat and Lloyd’s List has found.
The bulk carrier, Zafar (IMO: 9720263), switched off its Automated Identification System (AIS) – that allows it to be tracked by shipping services and which commercial vessels are mandated to keep on unless in danger – when it visited the Port of Sevastopol in May this year.
[...]
While there is no suggested illegality with this shipment, experts say it creates an awkward situation where a UN mechanism has waved through a grain shipment from occupied Ukrainian territory despite Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and the fact that member nations have repeatedly voted against Russia’s actions towards its neighbour.
The UN General Assembly has passed a number of resolutions against Russia’s invasion of Crimea and eastern Ukraine dating as far back as 2014. It also demanded Russia withdraw all military forces from Ukrainian territory following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. But unlike some resolutions from the Security Council, on which Russia sits and has a veto, General Assembly votes are not legally binding.
[...]