LNG tankers will pass freely through Bosporus to Ukraine - Kaskiv

The State Agency for Investment and National Projects of Ukraine has received a legal opinion from experts that cargo ships that will deliver liquefied natural gas for the Ukrainian LNG terminal have the right to freely pass the Bosporus Strait, the press office of the agency reported.

«The cargo ships that will transport liquefied natural gas for the Ukrainian LNG terminal have the right to freely pass the Bosporus Strait. Such a conclusion was provided by representatives of the leading American legal company Baker Botts,» the agency chairman, Vladyslav Kaskiv, said.

According to him, the experts came to the conclusion that, in accordance with the Montreux Convention, which regulates the use of the straits by merchant ships, tankers with liquefied gas are granted a free right of passage in the Turkish straits.

«The paper reads that, in accordance with the 1936 Montreux Convention regarding the regime of the straits, tankers with LNG have the right to full freedom of navigation in the Turkish straits and are required to pay only the fees approved in accordance with the Convention, as well as to pass health inspections before entrance to the Turkish straits,» Kaskiv said. Restrictions on passage through the strait, according to the international law, can only be used for military ships, or if Turkey is in a state of war.

The agency chairman noted that Turkish regulations impose certain restrictions on the passage of LNG-tankers by the Turkish straits - such restrictions relate to navigational safety and environmental protection, but should not interfere with the passage of LNG-tankers under normal circumstances.

Arrangement of LNG supplies by the Bosporus is necessary to provide raw material for the LNG terminal, whose construction is planned in Odesa region on the Black Sea coast under the national project LNG - Ukraine.

Adapted from Ukrinform