The first ferry from Turkey in 14 years cannot enter the port of Sochi for the second day: details

The Sea bridge ferry, making its first flight from Trabzon in Turkey to Sochi in 14 years, has been unable to dock at the Russian port for the second day. There are 20 passengers on board, including citizens of Russia and Turkey, who have been effectively isolated in neutral waters. All the details are in the Izvestia article.

What happened to the ferry

The Sea bridge ferry arrived at the shores of Sochi on the morning of November 6 after a 12-hour crossing from Trabzon, Turkey, but did not receive permission to enter the territorial waters of Russia. The vessel was forced to embark on a raid in neutral waters 20 km from the coast, where it has been for more than a day.

According to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, the port of Sochi was closed for exercises until 12:00 on November 6, but even after that time, permission for mooring was not received. At the same time, ATOR stressed that the problems with the permit began during the ferry's test flight.

There are 20 passengers on board — 18 Russian citizens and 2 Turkish citizens. Many of them bought tickets for this flight as a historic event — the first resumption of ferry service between the countries in 14 years. Passengers report serious problems: food is running out, tickets for the next flights are burning.

Ferryman with food: how the Trabzon — Sochi route will work

Maritime communication between Russia and Turkey is resumed after a 14-year hiatus

Why is there a problem with the resolution?

According to the Krasnodar Territory administration, there are still unresolved security issues. The governor of the Krasnodar Territory, Veniamin Kondratiev, had also previously stated that he considered the launch of the ferry line premature and unsafe. There was no word about the resumption of ferry service either in Rosmorport or in Rosmorrechflot.

On November 7, Sergey Turkmenyan, CEO of the SVS Shipping company, which organizes and maintains the route, announced that the ferry had finally received permission to enter. According to him, the ship will arrive in Sochi at 13:00 Moscow time for internal inspection. In a conversation with RIA Novosti, Turkmenyan also said that the ship will depart in the opposite direction today at 20:00 Moscow time.

Passenger reaction

The passengers of the ferry were in a difficult situation. According to tourist Tatiana Studenkova, people are running out of food, and purchased tickets for flights from Sochi to other Russian cities are burning out.

"We ended up on the Trabzon–Sochi ferry with our family, the three of us. We can't get ashore. We have bought tickets, and we are traveling further. The Sochi – Mineralnye Vody flight, then we fly to Ufa, and these tickets are disappearing now, because in this situation something needs to be done, we are left without food," said another passenger, Said Zakirov.

Tourists also claim that the ferry was not initially ready for the flight. At the same time, the organizers of the flight sold tickets at prices starting from 6 thousand rubles for a seat and from 20 thousand rubles for a cabin seat, actively advertising the resumption of ferry service.

Meanwhile, the crew is engaged in cleaning and minor repairs during forced downtime.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.