Ukraine seizes cargo ship exporting stolen grain through Crimean ports

A Cameroonian-flagged cargo ship, USKO MFU, which had been operating through Crimean ports, has been confiscated and transferred to state ownership following a court ruling, according to Ukraine's State Border Guard Service.

The ship's captain is facing charges for unlawfully entering occupied territories. Operations conducted in ports within Crimea or the Sea of Azov breach both international law and Ukrainian legislation.

The vessel was detained in July 2023 while in the Danube River near the port of Reni in Odesa Oblast.

According to Ukraine's Security Service (SBU), the crew had been carrying out orders for Russia to export stolen Ukrainian grain from temporarily occupied Crimea.

Investigations revealed that throughout 2023-2024, the ship had repeatedly docked at the port of Sevastopol to load stolen agricultural products for transport to the Middle East.

As reported by MarineTraffic, the USKO MFU was involved in transporting 3,000 tons of grain from Crimea to a Turkish company in November 2023. The ship returned to Sevastopol in May-June 2024, with its AIS tracker turned off from May 22 to June 5. Satellite images confirmed the ship was offloading in Sevastopol's Kamyshova Bay during this period.

The SBU confirmed that the captain would periodically disable the ship's GPS tracker and falsify the logbooks to conceal its illegal activities. These actions facilitated the transport of large quantities of Ukrainian grain stolen from temporarily occupied southern regions.

The ship's captain, an Azerbaijani national, was charged in absentia in September. The crew included 12 other foreign nationals. During the search of the ship, authorities found documents, navigation equipment, and other evidence of the criminal activities.