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Russian embassy informs Eritrea of pleasure yacht’s disappearance in Red Sea

According to Khizri Iziyev, Eritrea’s Coast Guard patrols territorial waters, but it is not currently involved in a Saudi-led search and rescue operation

DUBAI, April 26. /TASS/. The Russian embassy in Eritrea has notified local authorities about the situation around the disappearance of a pleasure yacht with three Russians on board in the Red Sea, a senior consulate official told TASS.

"We have sent requests to relevant Eritrean agencies, including the Coast Guard and police," Consulate Chief Khizri Iziyev said. The embassy called the police, fearing lest the crew might have been detained, if the vessel had mistakenly entered the territorial waters of Eritrea. "Such things have been frequent, not with Russian citizens, though," the diplomat said. "However, we turned to the police, to be on the safe side, and they confirmed that they had not arrested any Russian nationals of late," he added.

According to Iziyev, Eritrea’s Coast Guard patrols territorial waters, but it is not currently involved in a Saudi-led search and rescue operation. Embassy employees have been in touch with Eritrean officials.

On Sunday, Damir Saidyashev, an advisor at the consulate department at the Russian embassy in Riyadh, told TASS that the yacht "30 minutes" had vanished from the radar screens in the Red Sea after leaving the Saudi port of Jizan. According to the embassy, the pleasure boat was on its way to Djibouti. There has been no contact with the crew since April 17, when the yacht departed from Jizan and got anchored near the island of Rumain. It has been impossible to track the vessel, with its automatic identification systems (AIS) transponders turned off.