An empty Russian freighter has been detained for checks in the port of Marseille-Fos as part of European sanctions against Moscow after the invasion of Ukraine, we learned on Tuesday from port and government sources.
This bulk carrier was intercepted on Sunday in the Gulf of Fos-sur-Mer (Bouches-du-Rhône), before being brought to dock, according to a port source.
The Victor Andryukhin, 141 m long and 17 wide, is now immobilized in the western basins of the industrial-port area of Fos-sur-Mer, which is part of the port of Marseille. The 12 crew members of Russian nationality are still on board, according to the same source.
“We confirm that this boat has indeed been immobilized for controls within the framework of the sanctions pronounced against Russia”, following the invasion of Ukraine, indicated a source at the Ministry of the Economy.
A precedent in the Channel
“For the moment, we are doing the checks that will lead us to pronounce an immobilization or not”, that is to say a ban on leaving, insisted this source without specifying who owns this ship.
On Saturday, the French authorities had intercepted, in the English Channel, the Baltic Leader, a merchant ship belonging, according to Paris, to the Russian public bank PSB, the first visible application of retaliatory measures after the invasion of Ukraine.
This ro-ro cargo ship, built especially for the transport of vehicles, was transporting its cargo to Saint-Petersburg (Russia), had been brought to the quay, at Boulogne-sur-Mer (Pas-de-Calais) and placed in customs detention where the checks were to continue.