SIMFEROPOL – The Crimean prosecutor's office has filed a lawsuit to the Economic Court of Crimea against a Syrian dry cargo ship, the Ibrahim Yakim, which ran aground during a storm near the Tarhan Qut Cusp in December 2010, to exact a penalty of $3.4 million to cover the damage caused by the pollution of the Black Sea.
"Civil response measures were taken due to non-fulfillment of obligations to cover the damage caused to the environment by the pollution of the Black Sea by the violator of ship navigation rules, due to which more than 10 tons of oil were spilled into the waters near Tarhan Qut," the press service of the Crimean prosecutor’s office reporters on Jan. 23.
As a result of bad weather conditions on Dec. 17, 2010 the Ibrahim Yakim drifted from its the anchorage and ran aground in the Black Sea near Tarhan Qut Cusp (Crimea). The ship was flying the flag of Cambodia and its crew consisted of 15 people, including citizens of Syria and India. The vessel was heading from the port of Mykolaiv to Turkey with a cargo of 5,500 tonnes of metal.
The crew was evacuated from the ship and returned home. The ship owner found it unreasonable to refloat the ship and it was salvaged for scrap.
According to a posting on the Web site of the Center of Journalist Investigations, not only the Crimean prosecutor’s office had property claims against the ship’s owner. Sevastopol port continues to demand that the ship owner to pay for the salvage and scrapping of the ship. The Economic Court of Crimea is also considering a lawsuit against the Big Fleet Shipping Company (Syria).
The Sevastopol side insists that the ship owner has to pay for the salvage and scrapping of the ship.
The cases have been considered for several months.
