A bulk carrier carrying stolen Ukrainian grain is returning to Russia after Israel and Turkey refused to allow it to dock

The Russian dry cargo ship Panormitis is returning to the Black Sea after several unsuccessful attempts to unload agricultural products that were illegally exported from the temporarily occupied Ukrainian ports of Berdyansk and Kerch. The vessel has now entered the Dardanelles Strait and is likely heading to the Russian ports of Kavkaz or Novorossiysk to transfer the compromised cargo to another buyer. 

This was reported by Kateryna Yaresko, a journalist with the SeaKrime project.

The bulk carrier’s voyage began on April 25, when investigators first recorded its movement toward the Israeli port of Haifa. However, a local agricultural trader refused to accept the cargo. After that, the Panormitis attempted to unload at the Turkish port of Iskenderun but was also refused.

The Panormitis itself was anchored at the port of Kavkaz in Russian territorial waters and did not directly cross Ukraine’s state border. Instead, the stolen grain was loaded onto it by other vessels that called at the occupied port cities. In particular, investigators documented the activities of the Russian vessel Leonid Pestrikov, which delivered over 6,000 tons of barley and about 1,000 tons of wheat from occupied Berdyansk to the Panormitis.