dumskaya.net
The former owners were accused of extracting sand near Russia-occupied Crimea without the Ukrainian authorities' permission.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor's Office for the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is trying to restrict the movement of the Trump D vessel, while the latter's U.S.-based shipowner, PILIN FLEET MANAGEMENT (FLORIDA), LLC, plans to seek help from the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine in an attempt to restore justice.
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In particular, the vessel SEABREEZE (the former name of the Trump D before the sale to the current owner) was in the spotlight two years ago, the Ukrainian news portal Censor.NET reported on May 15.
In 2018, it was seized after it had taken aboard grain due to be shipped to Spain. The owners were accused of extracting sand near Russia-occupied Crimea without the Ukrainian authorities' permission. Since then, law enforcers have found no evidence of this. The prosecutor's office also seemed to be not very interested in the seized vessel as the latest searches were conducted on board the vessel on April 28, 2018.
The court did not consider the merits of the case. What is more, the prosecutor's office tried to impede the process of litigation by applying for disqualification of judges, as well as petitioned for cancellation and rescheduling of the court hearings. Despite all efforts, no evidence was provided within two years of the grain ship's involvement in operations with sand. "All the data that the prosecutor's office uses is the information from the Equasis [Electronic Quality Shipping Information System] registry – it is neither a secret and nor corpus delicti," Censor.NET said.
As a result, two years later, Odesa's Primorsky District Court satisfied a claim filed by lawyers of the former shipowners to lift the seizure. Moreover, the court ruling indicated that the SEABREEZE vessel had nothing to do with the Pechora dredge vessel, which the prosecutor's office is charging with illegal sand extraction.
After the court ruling was handed down, the ship was sold to the American company PILIN FLEET MANAGEMENT (FLORIDA) LLC and renamed to the Trump D. However, the Ukrainian Prosecutor's Office for Crimea issued a press release challenging the ruling and demanding its review. In such a situation, the new owner cannot use the legally acquired property, while the ship could remain in the port of Pivdenny, Ukraine's Odesa region.
"Such actions of the prosecutor's office not only contradict international law, but also affect Ukraine's image as a law-based state. The prosecutor's office for Crimea had enough time to collect evidence and conduct a probe. But even if they are willing to continue the investigation, the new owner has nothing to do with it and this cannot be a reason for restricting his rights to dispose of property," the publication said.