The Kerala High Court on Wednesday ordered the release of Russian ship MV MAIA-I, which had been detained here for non-payment of fuel charges of around ₹1.87 crore to an Estonian firm.
The court withdrew its order for the arrest and detention of the ship that carried arms for the Indian Navy, following the settlement of disputes between the supplier of fuel and the Russian vessel over fuel charge payment.
Speaking to Russian news agency TASS, Moscow’s Consul General in Chennai Oleg Avdeev said the crew were not disturbed during the episode. Russian Embassy on Tuesday had requested India to respect the rights of the crew. “The sailors stayed on board and were provided with everything they needed.”
“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 the ship leave the port,” said Mr. Avdeev.
Mr. Avdeev thanked Russia’s Honorary Consul in Thiruvananthapuram Ratheesh C. Nair who handled the case and provided help to the sailors on board the ship. He said that the ship will leave the port “as soon as possible”.
