The Ukrainian embassy in Beirut said the ship was loaded in Feodosiya in Russian-occupied Ukrainian Crimea, and that the cargo came from the occupied territories of Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.
Lebanon seized a ship full of barley and wheat flour while investigating the origin of the cargo, which may have been stolen by Russian invaders in Ukraine, Bloomberg wrote, citing Lebanese Prosecutor General Ghassan Weidat.
The Ukrainian embassy in Beirut said the ship was loaded in Feodosiya in Russian-occupied Ukrainian Crimea, and that the cargo came from the Russian-occupied territories of Zaporozhye and Kherson.
It will be recalled that the cargo ship Laodicea arrived in Tripoli in northern Lebanon on July 27, according to ship tracking data. It will remain under arrest while Lebanon investigates the origin of the shipment, Weidat said in a Bloomberg comment.
According to the European database Equasis, the registered owner of the ship is Syria Mar Shipping Ltd. In 2015, the United States imposed sanctions on both the company and the ship because of links to the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.
The ship carried 10,000 tons of flour. In a commentary to the publication, the ship’s operator, Turkish trading company Loyal Agro, said it was on its way to Syria, but stopped in Lebanon to ship 5,000 tons of flour.
Lebanon used to import most of its wheat from Ukraine, but supplies have been halted by Russia’s invasion and blockade of key Black Sea ports.
Source: korrespondent
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