Updated: Body of missing Georgian sailor found
Davit Razmadze’s family spoke with him for the last time on 6 January. Davit Razmadze. Photo from RFE/RL's Georgia.
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Updated: 17:45
The Maritime Transport Agency of Georgia reports that 22-year-old Davit Razmadze, a Georgian sailor who disappeared from a ship in Libya on 7 January 2019, has been found dead. Director of the Maritime Transport Agency of Georgia Tamar Ioseliani says his body has been identified.
Earlier: 14:53
A 22-year-old Georgian sailor who disappeared from a Turkish ship on 7 January is still missing.
Davit Razmadze went missing on the Turkish MV Dogan Bey in Libya – the Georgian government is collaborating with the Libyan government to investigate the cause behind his disappearance.
“All details related to the incident are unclear for now. Our embassy is collaborating with with the Libyan government. No account can be excluded until we have all the details from the investigation”, said Deputy Director of the Consulate Department of the Georgian Foreign Ministry Vladimir Konstantinidi.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry was notified of Razmadze’s disappearance on 15 January.
“Given the fact that the ship is owned by a Turkish company, we gave orders to the Consulate General of Georgia in Istanbul and our embassy in Egypt,” Vladimir Konstantinidi added.
Davit Razmadze’s family members say they spoke with Davit for the last time on 6 January and he said he had been sailing to Libya on a Turkish ship.
Davit Razmadze’s aunt, Nino Labadze, says the Turkish company let them know about the incident a week later on 14 January via post.
At 16:00 o’clock when the next on-duty sailor was supposed to replace him, he was no longer on the spot. His cell phone, personal items and cigarettes were there. He didn’t leave the ship.”
His family and relatives presume he left the ship and was then arrested by police. There are two other Georgian citizens working on the ship in question.
The lives and health of the sailors are not in danger and their condition is satisfactory, says Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and announces that the ship is on its way to the port of Lome in the republic of Togo.
The ship “Pantelena IMO 9321469” sailing under a Panamanian flag with 17 Georgian sailors on board has been missing since August 14.
The second Georgian citizen out of two being searched by the Embassy of Georgia in Athens, where the wildfire killed more than 70 people, has been also found.
Three men, Rezo Katamadze, Jaba Duadze and another Georgian citizen, were sailors on board a ship that was arrested in Nigeria. The men, and sailors of other nationalities, were held in custody for two months before being returned to the ship, which is stopped.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia advised citizens against going to Libya earlier today.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry has responded to a briefing of the family members of two Georgian sailors who have been unable to leave Libya for two months, saying that the restriction is related to legal procedures and the death of another Georgian sailor back in January.
Libyan law enforcers have allowed two Georgian sailors, Raul Takidze and Manuchar Kekelidze, to return to their homeland after a three-month exit ban related to the controversial death of another sailor David Razmadze back in January 2019 in the Libyan port of Misrata.
Four sailors, including one Georgian citizen have been kidnapped by pirates from a Greek-flagged tanker in the Africa’s Port of Lome, Togo Terminal.
Georgian sailor Otar Vardidze, who was kidnapped with three foreign crew members by pirates from Greek-flagged tanker in the Africa’s Port of Lome, Togo Terminal on November 4 has been released today, Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports.