New Delhi: A potential diplomatic flare-up was avoided after the Kerala high court on Wednesday released a Russian ship it had ordered to be seized two days earlier. Justice Satish Ninan said that the court had been informed that the dispute between an Estonian company and the Russian ship had been settled between the parties.
The Russian Embassy had on Tuesday sent an official request to the Ministry of External Affairs seeking an explanation of the circumstances of the seizure. The Russian embassy confirmed the detention of the ship and said it had arrived with military cargo for the Indian armed forces.
The Kerala high court had ordered the “arrest” of the Russian ship MV MAIA-1 for non-payment of fuel charges amounting to $23,503 to Estonian shore service company Bunker Partner OU. The court permitted the weaponry to be unloaded because the cargo itself had nothing to do with the lawsuit.
On Wednesday, the court said it received a memo “to the effect that the disputes have since been settled between the parties and that the suit may be dismissed as withdrawn”. Justice Ninan granted permission to withdraw the suit and withdrew the interim order of arrest. “The vessel is hereby ordered to be released. The Cochin Port Trust shall be intimated accordingly,” the order said.
The Russian news agency TASS quoted the Russian consul general in Chennai Oleg Avdeev as saying, “The owner of the Russian ship and the Estonian company that filed the lawsuit held talks and settled the issues that arose. The company then appealed to the High Court of Kerala and withdrew its claim. The court decided to release the vessel from arrest, close the case and let it [the ship] leave the port.”
The diplomat added that the crew of the Russian bulk carrier had no problems because the arrest only involved the ship. “The sailors stayed on board and were provided with everything they needed, so they were taken care of,” he said.
Avdeev said that Ratheesh C. Nair, Russia’s honorary consul in Thiruvananthapuram “promptly became involved in the situation” after the ship was detained. “Our honorary consul in Trivandrum helped the Russian sailors and is now assisting in getting permission from the port authorities to leave Cochin as soon as possible, which is a necessary formality,” he said.