Maritime body says cruise ship entering Batumi port from Turkey not violating Russia sanctions
It also said authorities were “regularly” monitoring ships and shipowners in cooperation with the Revenue Service for compliance with the international sanctions. Photo: IPN
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Astoria Grande, a cruise ship that has entered Georgia’s Batumi port, has arrived in the harbour from Turkey and is free from the international sanctions imposed against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, the Maritime Transport Agency of the country said on Thursday.
The body said the vessel - sailing under the flag of Palau while operated by the Turkish cruise company Miray Cruises International - was visiting from Trabzon.
The comment came after a report on Russia’s state-owned television channel earlier this week announced the ship had departed from Sochi on Saturday with a new route that included a stop in Batumi.
On Tuesday the Agency said the visit of the cruise vessel was of commercial nature, with the ship registered in the Seychelles under Goodwin Shipping Limited and not a target of the sanctions.
It also said authorities were “regularly” monitoring ships and shipowners in cooperation with the Revenue Service for compliance with the international sanctions.
The Maritime Transport Agency of Georgia on Tuesday said the scheduled entry of Astoria Grande, a cruise ship sailing under the flag of Palau, in Batumi port in the country’s west was free from international sanctions imposed against Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Wednesday told the ongoing Qatar Economic Forum in Doha his Government’s “clear” position that airline companies sanctioned for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would not operate in Georgia.
Georgian Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili on Monday said even though the country had not imposed sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, the country’s authorities were “making sure” its territory would not be used for circumvention of the international sanctions for the war.
Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's Human Rights Committee from the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Saturday said Georgia “has no intention” of cooperating with Russian airline companies sanctioned by the international community for its invasion of Ukraine.
Georgian Deputy Economy Minister Mariam Kvrivishvili, on Wednesday, responded to the Russian Government’s decision to lift its ban on flights with Georgia and visa requirements for citizens of the country by saying that sanctioned airlines and ships would not be able to operate in Georgia, while unsanctioned ones would have an opportunity to perform direct flights.
Georgian Deputy Economy Minister Guram Guramishvili on Sunday said the cruise ship Astoria Grande, which had entered Georgia’s Batumi port on Thursday, had been sailing under the Palau flag and was not sanctioned, as part of the international sanctions imposed against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, by “any country”.
The Georgian law enforcement on Monday arrested 19 demonstrators for disobeying police and petty hooliganism at a protest against the entry of a cruise ship in the country’s Black Sea city of Batumi that carried Russian citizens in a cruise organised by a Russian channel on the backdrop of Moscow’s ingoing aggression against Ukraine, the Public Defender's Office said.
Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili on Monday said protests against the entry of a cruise ship in the country’s Black Sea city of Batumi that carried Russian citizens in a cruise organised by a Russian channel on the backdrop of Moscow’s ingoing aggression against Ukraine were a “deliberate provocation” and “harmful” to the domestic economy.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Tuesday said citizens of the country “do not need a guardian”, in a comment that followed a remark by the United States Ambassador Kelly Degnan on protests in the Black Sea city of Batumi on Monday against the arrival of a cruise ship that carried Russian citizens and originated in Sochi.