Sailors from "Vera Su" Ship Finally Evacuated

Society » INCIDENTS | October 6, 2021, Wednesday // 23:29
Bulgaria: Sailors from "Vera Su" Ship Finally Evacuated BTA

The nine sailors from "Vera Su" are well and are accommodated in a municipal hotel in Kavarna, the mayor of the town Dora Baltadjieva told BTA.

She added that the sailors had passed health control and were in apparently good condition, but would not be quarantined because they had been isolated on board for a long time and there were no people with symptoms of a viral infection.

According to Baltadzhieva, the Minister of Transport and Communications Hristo Alexiev, Vice Admiral Rumen Nikolov, Head of the General Directorate for Emergency and Rescue Activities and local firefighters took a direct part in the operation to remove them.

The operation to remove the sailors from Vera Su began this afternoon and lasted about an hour. The last to leave the vessel was the captain.

The Ministry of Transport announced that a Bulgarian captain and crew were boarding to control the situation. This was ordered by the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Hristo Alexiev after the evacuation of the crew by the ship announced earlier today.

Alexiev pointed out that due to the lack of crew it will not be possible to perform any actions to unload and withdraw the ship, but it also becomes nobody's territory and so "with the embarkation of Bulgarian crew the court becomes our property." Alexiev announced that the head of the Maritime Administration, who is a long-distance sailing captain, will probably take over the ship together with a team of specialists.

However, the lawyer for maritime law Hristo Alexiev is not so optimistic, saying on bTV that the fact that the crew that will board is Bulgarian does not mean that the ship will become Bulgarian.

"Mr. Minister did not win a new ship for Bulgaria, but a big problem. International law cannot be related to this case of an accident, as it refers to an abandoned vessel on the high seas in completely different circumstances. In this case, the crew got off the ship because of the danger of perishing. It is obvious that the excitement and the bad weather, the strong wind give a good reason to save human life and the sailors to get off board. This circumstance cannot be a reason for the ship to become Bulgarian ", the expert was categorical.

The ministry announced that the lack of crew is not a problem at the moment, as the vessel has been strengthened, and Minister Alexiev noted that the mistakes of the Bulgarian side in the whole plot are at least two - the lack of any reaction after 4 hoursand the lack of connection with the ship before its berth and the unsuccessful choice of technology for its unloading afterwards. "In 2020, the unique rescue ship Perun was cut," Alexiev said.

Today is the 17th day since the cargo ship Vera Su ran aground near the Yailata area near the Kavarna village of Kamen Bryag. The ship sails under the Panamanian flag, and there are nine sailors on board - citizens of Azerbaijan and Turkey.

They are expected to be questioned tomorrow at the Dobrich District Court.

/OFFNews

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Tags: Vera Su ship., Bulgaria., evacuated., sailors., international law., Ministry.

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