Turkish forces seize Russian cargo ship Zhybek Zholy carrying stolen Ukrainian grain.

According to information published by Press TV on July 3, 2022, Ukraine says Turkey has detained the Russian cargo ship Zhibek Zholy carrying Ukrainian grain taken from the Russian-seized port of Berdyansk, more than four months into Moscow’s military operation in the ex-Soviet country.
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Russian cargo ship Zhibek Zholy (Picture source: nssz)

Zhibek Zholy is a General Cargo that was built in 2016 (6 years ago) and is sailing under the flag of Russia. Its carrying capacity is 7146 t DWT and her current draught is reported to be 4.7 meters. Her length overall (LOA) is 139.95 meters and her width is 16.7 meters.

It allows transporting the so-called oversized project cargoes, i.e. those which because of their heavy weight and large size cannot be transported on conventional roads.

Vessels of the RSD49 project according to the classification accepted in the Marine Engineering Bureau belong to the "Volgo-Don Max" class and have the maximum possible dimensions for VDSC. The estimated service life of the vessel is 24 years.

The Ukrainian Defence Ministry accused Russia of stealing "hundreds of thousands of tonnes of grain" from grain elevators and other storage facilities throughout occupied Ukraine and transporting the grain to occupied ports for export. Plus, this multipurpose vehicle can sail autonomously at sea for up to 20 days.