MARIUPOL, June 21. /TASS/: Turkey’s Azov Concord has become the first foreign ship to leave the port of Mariupol, a TASS correspondent reported, adding that the vessel was headed to Russia’s Novorossiysk.
The ship’s captain Ivan Babenkov said that the Azov Concord was not carrying any cargo.
The Turkish vessel was repaired after suffering damage from the Ukrainian military, and new crew members were hired.
Novorossiysk Naval Base commander Counter Admiral Viktor Kochemazov earlier told TASS that the Azov Concord was scheduled to depart the Mariupol port on June 18. According to him, the vessel needed to get cleared by the customs and border services. A source said later that the departure had been postponed to June 20 because port services payment from the ship’s owner had failed.
Five foreign ships currently remain at the Mariupol port, including Bulgaria’s Tsarevna, the Dominican Republic’s Azburg, Liberia’s Smarta, Panama’s Blue Star and Jamaica’s Lady Augusta. According to Kochemazov, the Tsarevna is about to complete the necessary technical preparations and paperwork before leaving Mariupol.
