An Abkhazian official has said that Abkhaz authorities stand ready to help engineer a return to Turkey of a Turkish ship that has been docked at Abkhazia’s Port of Sukhumi for about 50 days due to technical disputes.
An Abkhazian official has said that Abkhaz authorities stand ready to help engineer a return to Turkey of a Turkish ship that has been docked at Abkhazia’s Port of Sukhumi for about 50 days due to technical disputes.
Daphne, Sierra Leone flagged vessel is a general cargo ship of 1672 GT Valery Papba, the head of transportation and communications for Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia, offered assistance for the freighter MV Daphne, which he said had been “abandoned to its fate” with five Turkish, four Syrian and one Azerbaijani crewmembers, the Anatolia news agency reported on Monday. The Sierra Leone-flagged ship cannot return to Turkey due to disputes between the Turkish company that operates the ship and an Abkhaz agency it works with, according to media reports. There is little legal redress available to Turkey since the ship flies the flag of Sierra Leone. Saying that his administration had provided necessary food and water for the crew and gave them mobile phones so they could contact their families, Papba said officials of the company that owns the ship had done nothing to help the ship return to Turkey. The Abkhaz official said humanitarian aid organizations in the country had also pledged their help if needed and that they are ready to make the crewmembers “feel that they are not abandoned.” Speaking to reporters, crewmembers said the ship was heavily damaged while they were trying to dock and that the engine sustained damage as well. They said they have no electricity and have to live in very poor conditions.
