Estonian-owned cargo ship sinks off Odesa after Russian action
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- Published on Friday, 04 March 2022 09:31
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ERR
As of Thursday afternoon, the Helt, owned by Estonian company VISTA Shipping Agency AS and sailing under the flag of Panama, was already sinking and with a heavy list, maritime news site Maritime Bulletin reported, citing Ukrainian sources.
While U.K. paper the Daily Mail reported on its website that four crew members were still missing and two had abandoned ship by using a lifeboat, all six crew members were subsequently safely accounted for, the Estonian foreign ministry said Thursday. None of the six were Estonian citizens, the ministry added.
Reutered also reports mine-strike as the likely cause of the initial explosion.
The Helt had reportedly been captured by the Russian Navy and used by them as a shield from direct fire, according to the Daily Mail, at a time when Russian naval landing craft are reportedly approaching Odesa ahead of a planned amphibious landing.
Maritime Bulletin reported that the tactic might also have been used as a way of evading radar detection.
Maritime Bulletin placed the Helt 16 nautical miles southeast Odesa as if 12.00 UTC (2 p.m. Estonian time) on Thursday, at a time when the vessel's Automatic identification system (AIS) was still functioning. The Helt is thought to have sunk some time after that.
The Jerusalem Post reported that Russia's navy forced the Helt into entering a dangerous zone of the Black Sea, in order to use it as a "maskirovka" means of concealing Russian naval maneuvers in the area.
The New York Times reported the same, adding that Ukraine's navy had said that the Helt's crew had come under threat of fire had they refused to cooperate.
"This is nothing but 21st-century piracy," the Ukrainians said, according to the New York Times.
The Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told ERR Thursday that: "There was an incident involving a cargo vessel owned by an Estonian firm, flying the Panamanian flag. The circumstances of the case are still not clear, and it is not known exactly what caused the sinking."
The ministry subsequently announced, at around 4.30 p.m. Thursday, that all six crew members had been safely rescued.
Estonian MEP Riho Terras (Isamaa) said that the choice of an Estonian vessel as a target for hijacking had not been accidental, tweeting about the incident that: "This is a very clear provocation and message from Putin. He is deliberately taunting us, trying to humiliate us, trying to challenge NATO. An Estonian cargo ship was not a random choice."