site.btaTzarevna Bulk Carrier Needs Crew Fill-Up to Leave Mariupol

The operator of the Maltese-flagged, Bulgarian-crewed bulk carrier Tzarevna told Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) on Friday that it is holding negotiations on recruitment of sailors for the ship.

The ship operator specified that the Tzarevna needs a crew fill-up in order to be able to sail from the Ukrainian port of Mariupol where she has been stranded since the start of the war.

The company specified that the five crew members, including the shipmaster, and the three Ukrainians who volunteered to remain on board after 14 Bulgarian sailors and a Ukrainian national left the vessel and were flown to Varna (on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast) on April 18, were healthy.

It is not yet clear whether the fill-up will be sent from Bulgaria or other options will be explored. 

On Thursday, the TASS News Agency quoted Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, Head of Russia's National Defence Management Centre, as calling on the diplomatic missions of the six countries to prevail on the owners of ships blocked at Mariupol to take the vessels to their home ports. Mizintsev specified that none of the six foreign ships has left the port even though the Russian Navy cleared the mines and opened a round-the-clock safe sea lane on May 25. Earlier this month, the Ukrainian port city was captured by the Russian army and the Donetsk Region separatists it supports.

Another Bulgarian-crewed bulk carrier, the Rojen, is currently in the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk, also trapped by the hostilities. The ship owner cooperates with the Bulgarian government institutions. The Rojen is victualed for three months.