KRASNODAR, July 30. /TASS/. Fos Shipping Management, the owner of the Nika Spirit tanker detained by the Ukrainian security service, is dealing the issue of the vessel’s return to Russia, the ship owner told TASS on Tuesday, commenting on the decision of the Ukrainian court to arrest the vessel.

"The issue of returning the tanker to the homeland is still addressed; a company’s representative remains in Ukraine," the ship owner’s spokesperson said.

According to Marine Traffic data, the vessel remains in the port of Izmail, the Odessa Region.

The vessel owner purchased it in 2019. If the tanker is arrested, the owner will apply to the High Court of London with a petition, company’s spokespersons said earlier.

The tanker’s detention

On July 25, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) stated that it had detained Russia’s Nika Spirit tanker at the port of Izmail. According to the SBU, the ship is actually the Neyma tanker that had blocked the movement of Ukrainian ships during the Kerch Strait incident in November 2018.

According to Ukrainian border guards, the Nika Spirit flying the Russian flag was identified at the port of Izmail through its IMO number as the Neyma tanker that had been used to shut the Kerch Strait, as per the Equasis information system.

In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that it was working to figure out the circumstances of the tanker’s detention in order to be able to take appropriate measures.