You're reading: Ministry: Ukrainian sailors from Etel ship in Libya are not endangered

The Ukrainian crew of the Etel, a ship seized in the Libyan port of Benghazi, has been provided with everything necessary, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has reported.

“The Ukrainian citizens have been provided with food and water, and their health and lives are not in danger,” the ministry’s press service reported on Wednesday.

According to the statement, the Ukrainian Embassy in Libya is in constant contact with the sailors.

“The Foreign Ministry hopes for the speedy release and return of the Ukrainian citizens to their homeland,” the ministry said.

On July 17, 2013, the Etel, a ship flying the flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis, whose crew consists of 19 Ukrainian citizens, was seized in the Libyan port of Benghazi by unidentified gunmen. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry passed a note to Libya’s charge d’affaires in Ukraine regarding the seizure of this ship, demanding that it be released immediately.

Those who seized the vessel stated that they were protecting the interests of 25 Libyan businessmen who were robbed by the owner of the Etel (the issue concerns nearly 600 cars worth about $9.5 million). The ship was allegedly to transport the cars from Jordan to Benghazi. But local businessmen claimed that the cars were unloaded in Ukraine, not at the point of destination.

In Ukraine the criminal proceedings were launched under Part 1, Article 15 and part 4 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code into an attempt to carry out a fraudulent scheme to obtain cars worth more than $20 million, which the Faina vessel was shipping from Jordan to Libya, and which were unloaded at Illichivsk seaport on March 18, 2013.