Documents obtained in the occupied territories of Ukraine will be confiscated from Russian sailors
5.07.2023 - 12:20
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) ordered to recognize as false the documents of Russian sailors obtained in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
The IMO made the decision at the 107th session of the Maritime Safety Committee, the head of the Shipping Administration Yevhenii Ignatenko said .
The IMO Maritime Safety Committee at its 107th session considered the document of Ukraine “Recommended practices with regard to Russian Federation’s unauthorized and unlawful issuance of seafarers’ documents in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine” and, as a result, made a decision on non-recognition of seafarers’ documents issued by the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
The committee called on IMO member states to recognize as illegal the certificates and other documents of seafarers issued by the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, to seize them during the inspection of vessels flying the flag of the Russian Federation (or other states whose crews include Russian sailors) and, accordingly, to detain them ships in their ports until replacement of inappropriate crew members.
Based on the proposals of Ukraine, the Committee made the following decisions based on the results of its 107th session:
The adoption of the Committee’s decision was the result of long-term work of the Ukrainian side on the implementation in the sphere of IMO of the resolutions of the UN General Assembly regarding the non-recognition of any changes in the status of the ARC and the city of Sevastopol, as well as other parts of the territory of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation. Ukraine also demanded that the UN member states refrain from any actions that could be interpreted as recognition of any change in the status of these territories.
Therefore, the IMO confirmed the demands of Ukraine that any document issued to a seafarer in the temporarily occupied territories by Russian state or private institutions is considered to have been obtained illegally and cannot serve as confirmation of the owner’s compliance with the requirements of the IMO conventions.
At the request of the Ukrainian side, flag and port states should apply a similar approach to fishing vessel personnel.
