On Friday, a Turkish oil tanker, Buket, which was shipping oil bought from TÜPRAŞ to Abkhazia, was seized by Georgian authorities. Georgia is imposing an implicit blockade to Abkhazia and South Ossetia which declared their independence after the war in August, last year.
Communication with the oil tanker dropped on Saturday night around 03:00. DENSA Tanker Isletmeciligi Ltd. Sti. officers informed the search and rescue officials and Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday morning stating that they are not receiveing signals from the ship Buket, which is under their management.
The explanation made by Ministry of Foreign Affairs to DENSA stated that the ship was seized by Georgia and was taken to the Poti Port by Georgian officials.
DENSA Chairman Hüseyin Avni Şen claimed that Georgian officials shut down AIS equipments by force and these are forbidden to be shut down according to the IMO rules. Şen said, “Ship personnel were put into a room and the ship was taken to the Poti Port. Our Captain Mehmet Coşkun Öztürk was arrested after being brought to a court, because of frontier infringement. Other personnel, including the trainee captain Özlem Akıncı Balca are under custody in the ship”.
(soL – News Desk)
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