Russia on July 19 urged India to ensure "unconditional observance" of rights of the crew of a Russian cargo ship, that was detained in Kochi, following a court order. The Russian mission has reached out to the Ministry of External Affairs seeking "explanation of the circumstances of the incident".
"According to the preliminary information, these actions are connected with the claim of the Estonian shore service company Bunker Partner OU, which claimed that the owners of the ship allegedly had a debt. We would like to underline that the court allowed the unloading of cargo, since it has nothing to do with the lawsuit," said the Russian Embassy in a statement explaining the circumstances in which the merchant vessel MAIA-1 was seized by the Indian authorities after it failed to pay an amount of ₹1.87 crore to the Estonian company.
The Russian authorities said that the ship was carrying supplies for the Indian military that were unloaded.
The Ministry of External Affairs is yet to respond to the Russian request.
