The Coast Guard on Tuesday intercepted a Russian cargo vessel while it was fleeing from Mumbai harbour. The MV Sevastopol was under arrest order of Madras High Court, which had issued an arrest warrant against the vessel on February 13, following a commercial dispute with a Chennai-based firm, M/S NTC Logistics (P) Ltd. The vessel was also directed by the High Court not to proceed without resolving the commercial dispute. According to the Coast Guard, the Russian flagged general cargo vessel picked up its anchor and started moving. It had switched off its Automatic Identification System, GMDSS equipment and navigational lights, against the provisions of SOLAS convention and collision avoidance regulations, the Coast Guard said. The vessel didn’t even respond to the messages relayed to it telling it to return to the shore and comply with the directives of the High Court, the Coast Guard added. “After extensive search efforts by ships and aircraft, the vessel was located about 110 nautical miles north west of Mumbai. At about 11.40 am on Tuesday, the Coast Guard interdicted MV Sevastopol. The vessel was trying to flee to circumvent judicial proceedings against the vessel. It is being escorted back to Mumbai harbour and is likely to arrive Mumbai anchorage by around Tuesday midnight,” said a release issued by the Coast Guard.
