The Authorities of Singapore reported that they may arrest the Russian vessel that has been under US sanctions for violating economic sanctions imposed on North Korea, Interfax, a Russian news reported.
Accordingly, Singapore aims to confiscate the vessel through court and sell it at a public auction.
The Russian tanker, called Sevastopol, was targeted by the US Treasury Office, when the latter applied sanctions to six of Russian company’s, Gudzon, vessels.
Gudzon Shipping’s fleet management director general, Oleg Anikin, commented that Singapore already sent papers reporting that it is arresting the ship over parking debts, adding the company’s concerns on losing the ship.
For the time being, there are 12 seafarers remaining onboard the tanker, with the port authorities having restricted access to the ship, waiting for the judicial proceedings. If Singaporean port authorities prevail in court, they will sell the ship to satisfy Gudzon’s debt.
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The debts are estimated to be around 61 million rubles.
In the meantime, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency commented that Russia’s embassy in Singapore informed tat the vessel was seized due to a commercial dispute and not because of the US sanctions.
The U.S. Treasury supports that the Gudzon-operated tanker Patriot conducted two ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum products with North Korean ships in early 2018.
