Mechanics "Pogodin"

How the Ukrainian authorities are trying to justify the blocking of a tanker in the port of Kherson. Video

The scandal around the tanker “Mechanic Pogodin”, which has not been able to leave the port of Kherson for six days, has been developing with the participation of various organs of the Ukrainian authorities and even a group of anonymous.

Recall that initially questions to the ship arose due to the fact that its owner allegedly appeared in Ukrainian sanctions lists. However, as it turned out, the real owner of the tanker “Mechanic Pogodin” is the company V.F. Tanker, which never appeared in any sanctions lists. It can be assumed that this confusion has become obvious enough, but

The Ukrainian authorities, instead of simply recognizing a mistake, began to retroactively look for justification for their actions.

So, the version was popular that not a shipowner fell into the sanctions lists, but the tanker himself, supposedly for entering the ports of Crimea. But checking this data is not difficult. It quickly became clear that since the launch of the water in 2011, the Mechanic Pogodin has never visited the Harbor of the peninsula, and, moreover, even the crew members did not take part in the Crimean flights.

At the next stage of the struggle, the forces of civil society launched the main activity. In particular, the chairman of the Federation of Marine Trade Unions of Ukraine Slyusarevsky wrote a letter addressed to the head of the Transport Security Service of Ukraine. At the disposal of trade union leaders, there was a certain information that the requirements of fire safety are roughly violated on board the “Mechanics of Pogodin” and the sea salvation system is unsatisfactory. In this regard, Slyusar strongly recommends competent employees to “take measures”, that is, obviously, go aboard.

The closest to the implementation of this plan (physically, but not legally) were employees of the State Ecological Inspectorate. A group of strong men in the amount of about 10 people tried to climb on board, but could not find legal grounds for this. The ship’s team and the captain considered that some data that Mikhail Pogodin allegedly dumps certain substances, which is why the composition of water has changed in the adjacent water area is not enough to justify the visit of uninvited guests.

In general, despite the almost weekly blockade, the crew feels normally and does not need help (except for the legal). Only the risks of the power seizure of the ship are caused by fears, which in the context of the appearance of more and more “signals” from different sources look more and more real.

Department of Economics