The captain of the Shtandart threatened to sue because of denial of access to EU ports

The captain of the Russian historical frigate "Standart" Vladimir Martus promised to go to COURT after the ship was not allowed into the French port of Brest and the Spanish port of Vigo, where international sailing festivals were held. Martus told RBC about this.

“For 25 years, “Standard” has been on the move, participating in festivals and regattas throughout Europe. The main activity of our non-governmental independent organization is training in maritime professions. The recently introduced European sanctions also extended to include historical ships (we are talking about a ban on ships flying the Russian flag to enter European ports. -). As a result, the prefect of the French city of Brest banned the Shtandart from entering the largest maritime festival, where we have already participated many times,” he explained.

The captain noted that the captains of other ships and the maritime community were “definitely on our side.” “There was even a small impromptu parade of sailboats before the start of the festival. Many Europeans are simply outraged by this decision. For our part, we will go to court,” he added.

Currently, the “Standard” has crossed the Bay of Biscay and is in the territorial waters of Spain (in Vigo, Spain, the ship was supposed to take part in the Iacobus Maris Route festival. -), however, even in this country they refused to allow the ship to enter the ports. “There are 15 people on board from seven countries, we always have a very international crew. We have three teenagers, 13, 14 and 18 years old. After four days of passage there is very little food and water on board. Maybe we'll have three or four days left. And it’s unclear what to do now,” Martus concluded.

“Standart” is a copy of the Russian historical frigate from the time of Peter I, built in 1999 by the “Project Shtandart” company. “At maritime festivals in European ports, the Shtandart invariably becomes the center of everyone’s attention. And its crew is looking forward to holidays, concerts, walks along the streets of new cities, communication with like-minded people from different countries,” says the description of the ship on the company’s website.

Earlier, the Outon portal reported that pro-Ukrainian activists of the public organization AGA Ukraina (Galician Association for Assistance to Ukraine ) wrote an appeal to the Sea Captaincy of the Spanish Vigo with a request to “prohibit the entry, parking and stopping of the ship “Standard” in the port of this city and any other port on the coast of Spain.

As Outon notes, since April 2022, EU ports have banned the entry of ships flying the Russian flag, but the Shtandart now flies the flag of the Cook Islands. This was noticed by pro-Ukrainian activists AGA Ukraina, who explained the change of flag as “fraud” and “an attempt to avoid sanctions.”

RUSSIA condemns Western sanctions and considers them illegal. President Vladimir Putin said that countries that seek to harm Russia with sanctions are harming themselves.