The Russian ship “Akademik Ioffe” was arrested in Denmark. In a press release posted on the website of the Russian Embassy, it is said that the incident took place on November 1. At the time, the ship was in the harbor of Skagen harbor for refueling. Now that the ship is stopped, it follows to statements Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Thus, it is specified that the arrest was carried out on a provisional basis within the framework of the request of a third party. This is due to the previous activities of “Academician Ioffe”. It is reported that the seized ship documents.
“The Embassy received and forwarded to the Russian Foreign Ministry copies of the court decisions on the basis of which the arrest was made. The employees of the Russian mission abroad are in contact with the Danish Foreign Ministry on this matter, ”the diplomatic mission said in the message.
“Akademik Ioffe”, built in 1988, belongs to the class of research vessels (NIS) and is owned by the State, sailing under the Russian flag. It is also known that the NIS is used by the FGBUN Institute of Oceanology named after PP Shirshov of the Russian Academy of Sciences “for scientific purposes. Previously, it had been reported that the deep-water passages of the waters the bottom of Antarctica in the northeastern part of the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the water masses on the continental shelf and slope of the Kara Sea, were surveyed on board the vessel. the next trip to the northeastern part of the Atlantic Ocean ended.
The fate of the crew is not reported. The Russian Embassy only clarified that there were more than 60 people aboard the geological expedition – 38 crew members and 23 scientists. Russian diplomats are in contact with them, said Russian Foreign Ministry representative Maria Zakharova.
The administration of the port of Skagen in Denmark, for its part, says the ship is anchored near the port. The Department of Education and Science is also investigating the circumstances of the incident.
The reason for the detention was a claim by Canadian company One Ocean Expeditions Ltd, the diplomatic mission said. A source from Gazeta.Ru at the Russian Academy of Sciences noted that the arrest of the research vessel was expected and associated with the past practice of using such vessels for the travel of foreign tourists. Subsequently, the travel agency’s claim was satisfied.
“Once” Ioffe “and” Vavilov “worked as tourist vessels. An agreement was made with a tourism company, which was either an intermediary or an organizer of tourist stays. When our legislators suddenly became concerned about the work scientific courts for tourists, they banned the use of ships as tourist liners. The contract was terminated and the company that started selling tickets suffered losses. The lawsuit, as far as I can remember , concerned Vavilov. But since the owner has several courts, the decision applies to all, “added the source.
As well REN TV managed to find other details. About ten years ago the ship was leased to One Ocean Expedition Ltd, which was engaged in tourist expeditions. Several years ago the company went bankrupt and Akademik Ioffe was transferred to the Ministry of Education and Science.
The agency then terminated the rental agreement for the ship, but by that time tickets for the scheduled cruises were already sold out. As a result, there were no visits and no payment was made to the charterer for fuel and parking.
This information was confirmed by the deputy director of the Institute of Oceanology. PP Shirshov RAS Vyacheslav Kremenetsky, who added that the situation is linked to 2019, when Russia terminated the charter contract on the charter use of the vessel by a Canadian travel agency.
He also pointed out that after that, Akademik Ioffe usually did not go to foreign ports for refueling for fear of prosecution.
“I think they will now come to an agreement, as the ship entered for some reason, although they have generally avoided entering domestic ports since then. Maybe they’ll connect some channels to fix the problem, or just pay a penalty, ”REN TV said.
A source TASS also claims that the detention may be linked to the 2018 incident. The ship was later chartered as a cruise ship by One Ocean Expeditions Ltd and ran aground in the Arctic Ocean. Other details are not provided.
“Pop culture fanatic. Introvert. Devoted food trailblazer. Bacon geek. Lifelong coffee evangelist.”