18 Bulgarian sailors stranded in the Ukrainian port of Mariupol

18 Bulgarian sailors on the “Tsarevna” ship have been stranded for 15 days now in the Ukrainian port of Mariupol.

The vessel is owned by a Varna company and sails under the Maltese flag. The wife of one of the sailors said that for 2 days now she had no contact with the crew because of the suspended internet.

The woman is worried that there are no plans to evacuate the crew by land for the time being and the vessel has fuel and food supplies for a month and a half. The manager of the company that owns the ship said they contact the ship's captain three times a day by satellite phone and inform the sailors' relatives of their condition. All of the crew are fine and they have enough supplies.

Returning the ship by sea is impossible for the time being as Russia has closed the Sea of Azov to shipping and Ukraine has closed the port of Mariupol itself. The flag state under which the “Tsarevna” ship sails flies is negotiating to secure a corridor for the ship to leave the port, but so far to no avail.