According to the Ministry of the temporarily occupied territories, the vessel ran aground due to the building of the bridge over the Kerch Strait

The marine vessel Maryland ran aground while cornering at the Kerch–Yenikaleske channel, said the press service of the Ministry of the temporarily occupied territories.

According to the Ministry, which is referring to the data of the international ship monitoring systems, the vessel with the Liberian flag was heading from Mariupol port to Marghera port in Italy. The ship's height is 13.9 meters, and the maximum sediment is 7.7 meters.

The depth at the corner from the Chushkinske part to Yenikalske part is 8.3 meters. Thus, the technical characteristics of the vessel allowed it to pass through the Azov Sea to the Black Sea.

“Although, the bridge over the Kerch Strait, illegally built by the Russian Federation hinders free passing of the vessels from the Azov Sea to the Black Sea. The siltation and the sand deposits are increasing due to the illegal and incorrect construction of the bridge in the Kerch Strait. The reasons for this may be a large number of supports of the Kerch Bridge, which occupy a significant area of the sea bottom in the Kerch Strait, and also prevent the natural flow of water from Azov to the Black Sea”, - the report said.

“After the occupation of the Crimean peninsula, the Russian Federation is responsible for the work, cleaning and conducting of the dredging works of the Kerch–Yenikaleske channel”, - the Ministry added.