Bangladesh turns back Russian ship banned by US

Moscow has reportedly expressed its dissatisfaction over the incident, terming it "absolutely not acceptable."

Sources say if the embargoed ship anchors on a country’s port, the embargo could be imposed on that country, too, justifying the Bangladesh government’s move.

According to sources, Ursa Major was scheduled to arrive in Bangladesh on December 24, 2022 with items pertaining to Rooppur project. But two days before its arrival, the United States informed Bangladesh about the US ban on that ship.

“Dhaka is ‘embarrassed’ in this regard”: Russia was informed about its decision to not allow the ship.

After the incident, Russian Embassy in Dhaka issued a statement saying that Bangladesh's position was "not acceptable".

In response, Dhaka also informed Moscow that it would not change its position.

On December 22, Secretary of the Maritime Affairs Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh Khorshed Alam met Russian Ambassador Alexander Mantitsky and informed about Dhaka's decision.

A source here said Bangladesh did not anticipate that Russia would send the consignment in an embargoed ship.

"We are embarrassed. There was a restriction. We did not expect Russia to send goods on such a ship,” the source said.

"It is known that Russia sought Bangladesh's permission to send the goods to Mongla port in October last year. At the time, they said the name of the cargo ship was 'Sparta-3'. Because of a ban on that ship, the Russians renamed the same ship as 'Ursa Major'. According to international rules, every ship has a number. Only the ship's name was changed while its number remained the same, which exposed the matter," the source added.

A former diplomat here said that the Bangladesh government took the decision keeping in mind the best interests of the country.

“Many people may think that Dhaka has taken a stand against Washington or the countries of the western world in some cases after seeing the various statements or actions of the government. But that is not the case. The government takes decisions considering the national interest. In some cases, it may not align with the views of other countries. This is exactly what happened in Russia’s case,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh has given a list of banned ships to the Department of Shipping today to avert such problems in the future.