International Court comments on Ukraine's seizure of Russian oil tanker
The UN International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea has not received any reports about the seizure of a Russian tanker in Ukraine, the tribunal's representative Benjamin Benirshke told Sputnik on Thursday.
On Thursday, Ukraine’s Security Service said it had seized the Russian tanker Nika Spirit in the port of Izmail in Odessa Oblast. Ukraine said the ship was formerly called the NEYMA and was believed to have been involved in blocking the path of Ukrainian warships during the Kerch Strait incident.
Sergei Zheleznyak, a member of the State Duma's International Affairs Committee, said that in the near future, if Ukraine does not let the sailors leave the detained Russian tanker, Russia will be forced to raise this issue in the UN Security Council.
“As of today, the case related to the Neyma tanker has not been filed with the court: - Mr. Benirshke said.
He explained that when a state party to the Convention claims another state has breached the terms of the convention, the court can consider the case if both parties have agreed to the court's jurisdiction in a special agreement.
Mr. Benirshke added that the court also has additional jurisdiction to consider urgent cases brought by a State unilaterally against another State – on the basis of Article 290, paragraph 5, of the Convention (request for preliminary measures) and Article 29 (request for release of arrested persons and crew).
The Russian Embassy in Kiev later said the ship had 10 crew members, all Russian citizens. According to diplomats, the sailors were released and returned home, while the tanker remained in port. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Russia was clarifying the circumstances of the tanker's detention in order to take appropriate measures.