The captain of the foreign vessel USKO MFU, detained earlier on the Danube River, will go on trial, the prosecutor's office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol reported on Tuesday, UNN reports.
Details
"The autonomy's prosecutor's office sent to court an indictment against the captain of a foreign vessel that was detained in the waters of the port of Reni, Odesa region, in July 2024," the prosecutor's office said in a Telegram post.
As noted, he is charged with violation of the procedure for entering and leaving the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine with the aim of harming the interests of the state, committed repeatedly by an official using his official position (Part 2 of Article 332-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The sanction of the article provides for up to 5 years of imprisonment.
The investigation established that "in May 2024, the accused, operating the USKO MFU vessel flying the flag of Cameroon, in violation of Ukrainian legislation and the rules of international maritime law, made an illegal entry into the Sevastopol Commercial Sea Port, which was closed by Ukraine." "In June 2024, the captain, repeatedly violating the order, illegally departed the port of Sevastopol," the prosecutor's office added.
According to the prosecutor's office, in order to conceal his illegal activities, the accused periodically turned off the AIS (Automatic Identification System) and entered false information about the ship's course, which is a violation of maritime safety requirements.
While passing through the waters of the port of Reni, the USKO MFU was detained and arrested on the basis of a court order. Subsequently, the vessel was transferred to the management of the ARMA.
Addendum
The prosecutor's office noted that another captain of this vessel, who was in charge of it during the illegal entry and exit from the Sevastopol Commercial Sea Port in 2023, was also notified of suspicion.