The crew of a Cameroonian-flagged fishing vessel, including Russians, Ukrainians and Lithuanians, has been detained for eight months in the port of Maputo due to a legal dispute, with Russia trying to free them.
A note from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, released yesterday by the state agency RIA Novosti, states that there are five people on the fishing vessel “Volopas”, already without fuel or electricity, that two of them, including the captain, are Russians, and further reporting that the crew only has food once a day.
It adds that the Russian crew conveyed to the Government their desire to return to their country and that the Russian Embassy in Mozambique “immediately turned to local authorities for assistance”.
“Relevant notes were sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mozambique, contact was established with representatives of the Ministry of the Interior, the National Migration Service, the Maputo Port Authority”, added the Russian diplomacy, stating that the crew is “hostage of a financial and property dispute between the company that owns the ship and the local agent”.
With the ship detained in Maputo – the specific content of the dispute has not been revealed – the port authorities insist on the need for the presence of a minimum number of crew to keep the vessel afloat.
According to the Russian Government, with the help of diplomats in Maputo, the ship resumed supplying technical water and a gas stove was delivered on board.
“Russian diplomats are constantly monitoring the situation on board, sailors receive the necessary support. Intense consultations continue with the competent authorities in Mozambique to resolve the current situation”, added the same ministry.