LONDON, January 23. /TASS/. Only a return to safe navigation while respecting international rules will solve the problem with freedom of navigation in the world, not military escort of merchant ships, Arsenio Dominguez, Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), told a news briefing.

"Escorting ships is not a solution. I don't see practically how vessels would be escorted, how practically this could be the case in relation to more than 50,000 ships operating around the globe," Dominguez said, replying to a question from TASS.

"What is important to have these conversations, to find the ways at any level - whether at the level of IMO, other organizations, between countries, through the United Nations - to actually bring back and safeguard the safety of navigation, to respect the international law and free navigation for the ships to continue to operate."

According to the BBC Broadcasting Corporation, in mid-January, the British government prepared legal grounds to use its armed forces to detain ships allegedly related to the so-called Russian shadow fleet. Russian ambassador to the United Kingdom Andrey Kelin warned that this could lead to merchant vessels being escorted by security ships, areas closed to navigation, and attempts to block critical straits and channels.