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Ilmenite Cargo Reloaded in the Kerch Strait onto the German Ship Again

Andrii KLYMENKO

Head of the Maidan of Foreign Affairs and Black Sea Institute of Strategic Studies monitoring group, the BlackSeaNews editor-in-chief, Yalta-Kyiv

As we have repeatedly registered, the shipping of ilmenite to the Kerch port of Kamysh-Burun continues on a monthly basis. The ilmenite ore is being used by the single buyer in the occupied peninsula — the Titan plant in Armyansk, in the north of Crimea, that is part of the corporate group owned by Dmytro Firtash.

Several days ago, we already reported that at the end of November 2017, the transportation of ilmenite to Crimea had taken a peculiar turn (German Ship Delivers 10,000 Tons of Ilmenite from Norway to the Occupied Crimea’s Titan Plant – a BSNews Investigation.)

Specifically, we investigated that on November 23, 2017, a German cargo ship HHL MISSISSIPPI (IMO: 9435765) arrived from the Romanian Constanta under the flag of Liberia to the roadstead of the Russian Port Kavkaz in the Kerch Strait (the same roadstead 451) and remained there until December 5, 2017.

\Over that period, for at least three times, an old Russian cargo ship NEFTERUDOVOZ-2 (IMO: 8986884) approached it and the HHL MISSISSIPPI onboard cranes loaded ilmenite to the NEFTERUDOVOZ-2 holds. After that, the Russian ship delivered ilmenite to the Kerch port of Kamysh-Burun.

It turned out, however, that this it was not a single incident, but rather a new scheme of circumventing the sanctions.

The December 23, 2017 transfer of Norwegian ilmenite from the German bulk carrier CALLISTO to the Russian cargo ship NEFTERUDOVOZ-2 destined to the occupied Crimea’s port of Kamysh-Burun at the Kerch Strait roadstead #451 (map based on www.marinetraffic.com).

Almost exactly a month later, on December 20, 2017, the same German bulk carrier CALLISTO (IMO: 9427392) arrived under the flag of Liberia to the same Russian Port Kavkaz roadstead #451 in the Kerch Strait, but with the double deadweight, which leads us to assume that this time it brought up to 25 thousand tons of ilmenite ore for the Crimean Titan plant.

Earlier, On December 5, just as the last time, the bunker had left the small Norwegian port of Jøssingfjord, the site one of the largest in Norwegian and one of the largest in Western Europe titanium mines Tellnes. The mine is run by Titania, while the fjord is used as the company’s port.

The CALLISTO bulk carrier (IMO: 9427392) belongs to HEINZ CORLEIS REEDEREI KG Kampweg 4A, 21706 Drochtersen, Germany.

On December 23, 2017, just as before, CALLISTO (IMO: 9427392) began reloading the ilmenite onto the Russian dry cargo vessel NEFTERUDOVOZ-2 (IMO: 8986884).

Roadstead #451, the site of the illegal transshipment of the ilmenite ore cargo destined to the occupied Crimea’s Kamysh-Burun port.

Illegal transshipment of the Norwegian ilmenite ore destined to the occupied Crimea’s Kamysh-Burun port from the German CALLISTO bulk carrier onto the Russian NEFTERUDOVOZ-2 dry cargo vessel, December 23, 2017. (map based on www.marinetraffic.com).

CALLISTO

Flag: Liberia

Vessel type: Bulk Carrier
Build year: 2010
IMO: 9427392
MMSI: 636091966
Callsign: A8UZ6
Gross tonnage: 15,861 tons
Summer DWT: 25,981 tons
Length: 157 m
Beam: 28 m
Draught: 6.4 m

Home port: Monrovia

Class society: Germanischer Lloyd

Ship manager/Commercial manager HEINZ CORLEIS REEDEREI KG Kampweg 4A, 21706 Drochtersen, Germany. during 06/2015

Registered owner CALLISTO HEINZ CORLEIS Care of Reederei Heinz Corleis KG , Kampweg 4A, 21706 Drochtersen, Germany. since 05/03/2010

Kerch:

20.12.17 - arrived from Jøssingfjord to a Port Kavkaz roadstead with the ilmenite ore cargo for the Crimean Titant plant.
23.12.17 Transshipped the ore onto the dry cargo ship
NEFTERUDOVOZ-2 (IMO: 8986884) for delivery to Kamysh-Burun


As can be seen from our black list excerpt below, the Russian dry cargo ship NEFTERUDOVOZ-2 (in some databases displayed under its old name PRANIK), is a seasoned perpetrator and besides, has repeatedly engaged in transporting ilmenite to Kamysh-Burun.

PRANIK

NEFTERUDOVOZ-2

Flag: Russia

Vessel type: Ore/oil Carrier

Former name(s):
Nefterudovoz 2 (2008 May)

IMO: 8986884
MMSI: 273446860
Callsign: UFZD

Gross tonnage: 2,616 tons
Summer DWT: 3,345 tons
Length: 119 m
Beam: 13 m
Draught: 3.6 m

Build year: 1969
Builder: Kama Shipyard - Perm, Russia

Class society: Russian River Register

Owner: Yeya Shipping - Yeysk, Russia
Manager: Yeya Shipping - Yeysk, Russia
----

Ship manager/Commercial manager YEYA SHIPPING LTD Office 311, ul Armavirskaya 45, Yeysk, Krasnodarskiy kray, 353680, Russia. since 27/05/2008

Kerch:
27.05.16
09.06.16
14.06.16
06.07.16
02.09.16
05.09.16
27.09.16
30.09.16
09.10.16 - regular loading at roadstead in Kerch Strait to KBSP in September-October 

14.11.16 - Kamysh-Burun from Volgodonsk
24.11.16 - Kamysh-Burun from Azov
07.05.17 - from roadstead
09.05.17 -"-
11.05.17 -"-
21.10.17 - Kamysh-Burun from Temryuk, 22.10 off to roadstead 451, got ilmenite 2900 t from LITTLE WIND (IMO 8863018)
25.10.17 - Kamysh-Burun from roadstead 451 ilmenite 2900 t from LITTLE WIND (IMO 8863018)
30.10.17 - KMTS from Azov sand 3000 t
08.11.17 - КMTS from roadstaed 451 ilmenite 3000 t
08.11.17 - КMTS from roadstead for grain loading 1700
11.11.17 - КMTS from roadstead for grain loading 1700
25.11.17 - Kamysh-Burun from roadstead, 2600 t ilmenite from HHL MISSISSIPPI (IMO: 9435765)
27.11.17 -"- 2800 t
01.12.17 -"- 2700 t
03.12.17 -"- 2000 t

Sevastopol:
02.04.16
12.04.16
20.04.16
10.04.17 - SMFP from Rostov

Feodosia:
29.05.15
01.08.15
20.04.16
07.06.16
02.07.16
12.09.16
25.04.17 - sand from Rostov 2800 t.
22.09.17 - sand from Rostov 2800 t.
15.10.17 -"-

Yalta:
27.04.16
23.08.16


The evidence presented demonstrates that the violation is not a separate incident, but that most likely, Dmitry Firtash, the Titan owner, had signed a sizable deal with the Norwegian ilmenite miner.

The site of the ilmenite mine and port of Jøssingfjord in Norway.

In other words, the reputable companies from Germany and Norway are involved in the illegal scheme of export supplies to the occupied Crimea...

As we reported earlier, the scheme of supplying ilmenite from Norway to the occupied Crimean peninsula was recorded for the first time since the occupation of Crimea in November-December 2017. Earlier, similar schemes from the Ukrainian port Pivdennyi, Brazil and the largest one - from the Turkish port Samsun — having been noticed and subsequently highlighted in various journalistic investigations, attracted the attention of those countries’ authorities and were stopped.

The joint monitoring group of the Black Sea Institute of Strategic Studies, the Maidan of Foreign Affairs and the BlackSeaNews is confident that after this publication, the appropriate conclusions will be made as well…

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The monitoring of the violations of international sanctions against Russia and the legal regime of the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea is supported by the European program initiative of the "Renaissance" International Fund. The views of the authors do not necessarily reflect the position of the position of the "Renaissance" International Fund.