Georgian Maritime Agency denies reported port call by Indonesian-flagged vessel in Russian-occupied Abkhazia

The Georgian Maritime Transport Agency on Monday dismissed a report by opposition-leaning TV Formula alleging that the Indonesian-flagged vessel SAVIR TIGER (IMO 9388730) had entered a port in the Russian-occupied region of Abkhazia, saying the claim was not supported by available navigational and technical data.

In a statement, the Agency said the vessel had not been scheduled to call at any Georgian port, noting that there were no corresponding records in the Maritime Single Window (MSW) system.

According to the Agency, the 245.07-metre-long vessel departed the Turkish port of Yalova on August 16, transited the Bosphorus Strait on August 18 and continued eastward across the Black Sea. On August 22, while outside Georgia’s territorial waters and near Pichori, the vessel’s Automatic Identification System (AIS) transmission was interrupted. The Agency added that no movement data were recorded in the Long-Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT) system for a period of time.

“On 24 August, the vessel was detected by a beam of Samsun”, the statement said.

The Agency stressed that a temporary loss of AIS or LRIT signals could not be regarded as evidence that a vessel had entered a port.

“The temporary absence of an AIS or LRIT signal does not constitute, and cannot constitute, evidence that a vessel entered any port”, the statement said, adding that drawing such a conclusion solely on that basis was “entirely unfounded from a professional standpoint”.

Officials said a combined analysis of the vessel’s dimensions, movement trajectory and timeline did not support claims that it had entered any port in Abkhazia.

The Agency noted that the time needed for the vessel to travel from the Samsun area to the Abkhazian coast and return would have consumed nearly the entire period during which no positional data were available, leaving virtually no time for entering a port, manoeuvring, berthing, carrying out cargo operations and departing again.

The statement also highlighted that the coastline of occupied Abkhazia lacks the port and berthing infrastructure necessary to safely accommodate and service a vessel of SAVIR TIGER’s size.

The Maritime Transport Agency accused TV Formula of presenting an unverified allegation as an established fact, calling the report misleading and factually unfounded.

“Such practices are particularly dangerous when the matter concerns occupied territories, regional security and maritime navigation”, the Agency said. “Presenting journalistic assumptions as established facts on such sensitive issues not only disregards professional standards but also constitutes an attempt to deliberately mislead the public”.

The Agency called on the broadcaster to verify information with competent authorities and reliable maritime data systems before publication and to refrain from presenting unverified information from unreliable sources as fact.