site.btaGambian-flagged Oil Tanker Kairos Detained by Burgas Maritime Administration

The tanker Kairos has been detained by order of Burgas Maritime Administration Executive Agency Director Capt. Zhivko Petrov, the press service of the Transport and Communication Ministry told BTA on Tuesday. The order was issued in the morning. 

On December 11, Executive Director of the Maritime Administration Executive Agency Ventsislav Ivanov told journalists that the ship is subject to sanctions under a European Commission regulation.

The Gambian-flagged oil tanker Kairos, owned by a Chinese company, ran aground off the Black Sea town of Ahtopol on December 5 with a ten-member crew on board, after the Turkish tugboat Timur Bey, which had been towing it, detached from the vessel in Bulgarian territorial waters and returned south. The Defence Ministry, the Transport and Communications Ministry and the Maritime Administration Executive Agency coordinated rescue operations: Navy Panther helicopters delivered food, water, communications equipment and a generator to the ship and evacuated most of the crew in stages, while several seafarers remained on board at the shipowner’s request. Environmental and maritime authorities said the tanker, which is empty of cargo and lies some 700–800 metres from shore, has not caused oil pollution. On December 15, the tanker was successfully towed to an anchorage near the entrance to Burgas Bay.