Ukrainian Vessels Filed No Request For Kerch Strait Passage As Required By Rules - FSB

Vessels of the Ukrainian Navy have not filed a request for passing through the Kerch Strait 48 and 24 hours prior to the passage, although this is required by rules, Mikhail Shishov, the head of the investigations office of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), said on Saturday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th December, 2018) : Vessels of the Ukrainian Navy have not filed a request for passing through the Kerch Strait 48 and 24 hours prior to the passage, although this is required by rules, Mikhail Shishov, the head of the investigations office of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), said on Saturday.

"According to Article 38, Section 5, of the Kerch Sea Port Regulations, approved by the Russian Ministry of Transport on October 21, 2015, a ship approaching the Kerch Strait is required to send a notification to the captain of the sea port 48 hours in advance, then again 24 hours in advance, and then the final confirmation is given four hours before the passage. No prior request to cross the Strait had been submitted," Shishov said at a briefing at Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency.

He specified that this rule had been introduced in 1999.

"As follows from the files of the criminal case, in violation of paragraph 9 of the Rules for Navigation and Sojourn of Foreign Warships and Other Government Vessels Used for Non-Commercial Purposes in the Territorial Waters, approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated October 2, 1999, No. 1102, the aforementioned foreign vessels did not report the intended coordinates of their crossing of the Russian state border, which, I must point out, is a mandatory requirement in order to be granted passage through the territorial waters," Shishov added.