Greece's Ambassador to Ukraine Georgios Georgountzos has said that Alloceans Shipping Company Ltd., the company that operates the Ariana vessel that was recently seized by pirates, is not a Greek company.
Georgountzos was speaking at a press conference.
«The Ariana vessel flies under the flag of Malta. The company that owns it and the company that operates it are foreign, not Greek... there are no Greek interests in the company,» Georgountzos said.
He stressed that Alloceans Shipping Company Ltd is resident in Panama, although it has an office in Athens (Greece).
Georgountzos explained that the functions of the company's office in Athens included selection of crews for vessels.
«Greece is a major shipping center. Many shipping companies have many offices in Greece, and that does not mean that Greece is responsible for the selection of the crews of all the vessels in the world,» he said.
According to Georgountzos, the Greek foreign Affairs Ministry said from the beginning that a foreign company was involved when it received a request from Ukraine to free the Ariana vessel.
Georgountzos said that Greece has asked Ukraine to send its request to Malta.
«Why did they not make a demand to Malta?» Georgountzos said.
He also said he was amazed at the support and solidarity for this issue in the Ukrainian community.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said on November 16 that negotiations on freeing the Ukrainian sailors on the Ariana vessel were being delayed.
The Malta-flagged Ariana vessel was seized by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean 250 miles southwest of the Seychelles Islands) in the early hours of May 2.
The ship was sailing from Brail to the Middle East with a cargo of 35,000 tons of soy when it was sized.
The pirates have demanded a ransom of UAH 10 million for the vessel.
According to Ukrainian media reports, the vessel is managed by Alloceans Shipping Cо. Ltd and it is Greek-owned.
The vessel has a crew of 24 Ukrainian citizens, including 23 residents of Odesa.