LONDON, January 30. /TASS/. British authorities have expelled the Russian cargo vessel Sinegorsk from UK territorial waters after it dropped anchor due to a technical issue, a Department for Transport spokesman said, as quoted by The Daily Telegraph.
"We issued a clear warning as a first step to the Sinegorsk vessel to leave UK waters after it entered to undertake essential safety repairs. This directive has been complied with, and the vessel is leaving UK waters," he said.
The newspaper notes that Sinegorsk entered the Bristol Channel in south-western Britain on the evening of January 27 and dropped anchor about two nautical miles off the city of Minehead. According to The Daily Telegraph, the vessel was located less than a mile from undersea data cables that connect the UK to Spain, Canada, Portugal and the United States.
The newspaper notes that after 14 hours of the ship being stationary, the Royal Navy dispatched a RN Wildcat helicopter from the naval air station at Yeovilton in Somerset County. In addition, on the morning of January 28, a Coastguard surveillance airplane circled the vessel for half an hour, "prompting the Russian crew to raise anchor and sail back out to sea."
The Daily Telegraph added that Sinegorsk’s last recorded call at a port was three weeks ago at Arkhangelsk in Russia’s North-West. Sinegorsk is not sanctioned by the UK and is not part of the so-called Russia’s shadow fleet, the publication notes.