Ukraine finds a pretext for the Mekhanik Pogodin detention, the tanker owner and operator says

The Ukrainian authorities found a formal pretext for the detention of the Mekhanik Pogodin" tanker: the ship construction financing in 2011 was provided by VEB-Leasing, V.F. Tanker, owner and operator of the vessel said in an official statement.

"The Mekhanik Pogodin crew and its cargo have been detained for more than a week now (since August 10) in the Port of Kherson, Ukraine. The port authorities were putting in claims against owner chaotically. The reasons for detention were named the following: violation of the sanctions regime, non-compliant poor condition, pollution of port basin, violation of customs and border regimes, etc.

And the formal reason has been found: the ship construction in 2011 was funded by VEB-Leasing. But the fact is that since the launching ceremony in 2011 the mv "Mekhanik Pogodin" ownership has been transferred to V.F. Tanker, a tanker shipping company that was not included in the sanctions lists. Only this company bears responsibility for all the actions of the crew, the risks of operating the vessel, owns the vessel and manages the tanker operations. "To dissolve formal reasons VF Tanker took over the remaining financing from the leasing company VEB-Leasing", the statement said.

The shipowner and operator draws attention to the fact that such a "formal approach by the port authorities hurts the interests of the cargo owner, the transportation service customer, the ship's crew, the shipowner and does not affect anyhow the interests of VEB Leasing, which financed the ship construction in 2011", V.F. Tanker said.

The Mekhanik Pogodin tanker was detained in the Port of Kherson, Ukraine on August 10, 2018 in violation of the International Convention For The Unification Of Certain Rules Relating To The Arrest Of Seagoing Ships and the Code of Merchant Shipping of Ukraine.