Held Russian Cargo Ship Released

The Kerala high court ordered the release of a Russian cargo ship on Wednesday after the parties reached a resolution through negotiation. The ship had been held in Cochin port due to a lawsuit against the ship's owner.

The owner of the Russian bulk ship MV Maia-1 was allegedly owing $23,503 to the Estonian shore service provider Bunker Partner OU. The Estonian company petitioned the Kerala high court, which on Monday ordered the ship be confiscated owing to outstanding debts.

The admiralty case was brought by TX Harry of Karuvelipady in Cochin, who is authorized to act on behalf of Bunker Partner OU, which has its main office in Estonia. What is asserted as payment is the quantity of bunkers that were given to the ship. The logistics of loading and distributing gasoline among the various shipboard tanks constitute bunkering, which is the delivery of fuel for use by ships.

Oleg Avdeev, the general consul of Russia in Chennai, said that the high court ordered the release of the vessel.

“The owner of the Russian ship and the Estonian company that filed the lawsuit held talks and settled the issues that arose. The company then appealed to the high court of Kerala and withdrew its claim. The court decided to release the vessel from arrest, close the case and let it [the ship] leave the port,” said Avdeev.

The Indian military had received cargo from MV Maia-1. On June 25, it departed from Novorossiysk in Russia and made port calls in Turkey and Egypt before sailing to Cochin. Since the goods had nothing to do with the dispute, the high court had previously allowed for its unloading.