The Ukrainian captain of the Grigoriy Petrovskiy, a ship that sank near the Georgian port of Poti, is returning to Ukraine, the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reported on Feb.18.
As reported, the Grigoriy Petrovskiy, owned by Kyiv-based Dar Trade Ltd., sank in a storm off the coast of Poti early on February 7. All of its crewmembers were rescued.
According to Georgian media, the crew of the cargo ship was earlier warned about the upcoming storm, but they failed to respond in time. The ship lost control, struck a pier and split in half, media reported.
The ship’s crew, in turn, accused the port of providing unreliable weather data, as well as disregarding requests for assistance within one-and-a-half hours of the start of the storm.
Six Ukrainian crewmembers were returned to Kerch by a ferry on February 11. The ship’s captain remained in Poti to participate in the investigation into the cause of the accident.
