Russian Sailors Of Sea Shark Tanker Crew Still Detained In Egypt - ITF Coordinator

Egypt has still not released the Russian sailors among the Sea Shark tanker crew detained for maritime border violations, a representative of the Russian Sailors International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), Sergey Fishov, told Sputnik on Tuesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st May, 2019) Egypt has still not released the Russian sailors among the Sea Shark tanker crew detained for maritime border violations, a representative of the Russian Sailors International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), Sergey Fishov, told Sputnik on Tuesday.

On Saturday, the Russian Embassy in Egypt confirmed there were two Russian nationals on board the Sea Shark tanker.

"According to the captain, everything remains unchanged. Ten people, including one Russian national, were not deported ... [and] are being kept at a military base, and 21 [other] crew members, including one Russian national, are on board," Fishov said.

The Egyptian Navy detained the vessel for unintentionally entering Egypt's territorial waters in December 2018, according to Ukrainian charity fund Assol. The crew reportedly included 17 Ukrainian citizens, 2 residents of Crimea, 11 citizens of India, the Philippines and Sri Lanka, as well as Azerbaijani national.

The shipowner was fined $56 million over the border breach, and is currently negotiating with the Egyptian authorities.

On May 18, the International Transport Workers' Federation received a letter from the captain, Vitaliy Nesterenko, and family members of the crew with a plea to intervene since the sailors were being kept in poor conditions and deprived of fresh air, medical attention and cellphones.

While the Egyptian authorities were delaying their decision to release the sailors, Ukraine demanded explanations from Egypt's Foreign Ministry and have asked the International Maritime Organization to determine whether Cairo's actions violated the Law of the Sea.