The Russian occupiers, who are currently in control of the assets in the temporarily occupied port of Mariupol, intend to use the Ukrainian icebreaker “Captain Bilousov” in the winter season.
The Russian Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport (Rosmorrechflot) announced this in a statement, the CFTS portal reports.
According to the statement, a meeting was held in the occupied port of Mariupol, during which it was decided that the icebreaker and ice-class tugs "Captain Markin" and "Captain Merkulov" would transport ships in the winter of 2023/2024.
For this purpose, the necessary amount of fuel was imported from Russia in May-October.
In addition, Rosmorrechflot wrote about the use of other Ukrainian vessels in the port’s fleet.
According to Rosmorrechflot, the tugs "Captain Ziber" and "Nikita Bespaly" have been registered in the ship registration department of the Russian port of Taganrog.
These vessels are part of the port of Mariupol’s fleet. Both were repaired at the Kyiv Shipyard and the Azov Shipyard (Mariupol) in 2015.
Recently, the Russian Federation announced that the process of "acceptance" of the assets of the seaport of Berdiansk was nearing completion. As reported, the Russians use both Ukrainian ports on the coast of the Sea of Azov to export goods stolen from the temporarily occupied territories (grain, metal products, coal, etc.), as well as for military purposes.
The icebreaker turned 65 years old in 2018. The “Captain Bilousov” was built at the Wartsila shipyard in Helsinki. It was commissioned in 1954 as part of the fleet of the Murmansk Arctic Shipping Company. It was transferred to the Azov Shipping Company in November 1973 and to the Mariupol Commercial Port in 1994. In 2009, the port financed the icebreaker's renovation and installed 6 Caterpillar diesel generators.
