Reports about the possible involvement of the Khudayar Yusifzada vessel in the drone attack on the Crimean Bridge are not true, since at that time the ship was in the Dardanelles, said Palmali Shipping & Agency, which owns the ship, Report informs via TASS.
“Vessels of our company transport vegetable oil both in the Black Sea and in other regions. The presence of our vessel in this region is not surprising. But we have nothing to do with this incident, at the time of the explosion our tanker was in the Dardanelles. Reports about the possible involvement of the tanker Khudayar Yusifzada in the attack on the Crimean Bridge are not true,” said Palmali Shipping & Agency, commenting on allegations of the vessel's possible involvement in the attack.
The agency added that the ship Khudayar Yusifzada was sailing to the port of Rostov-on-Don in order to load cargo.
“On July 8, at 08:35, when crossing from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov, it anchored in the Kerch Strait, waiting for the inspection of the Russian border service. Due to the large congestion of ships, the waiting time for the inspection was prolonged. While the ship was at anchor on July 13, its charterer canceled the contract due to a delay in arriving at the port of Rostov-on-Don. The passage of the ship to the Sea of Azov became inexpedient, so it turned around and headed to the port of Elefsis (Greece) to load cargo in accordance with the new contract,” the company noted.
Palmali Shipping & Agency emphasized that "the ship Khudayar Yusifzada was in no way and never involved in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, did not carry out any illegal actions, did not transport any prohibited cargo or military equipment."
“We are a transport company that deals exclusively with transportation. We do not want our company name to be associated with such unpleasant events,” the company concluded.