{"id":442601,"date":"2016-09-30T14:35:58","date_gmt":"2016-09-30T14:35:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/?p=442601"},"modified":"2016-09-30T14:35:58","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T14:35:58","slug":"anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling\/","title":{"rendered":"Anticoruptie.md: Three ships registered in Moldova were used for human smuggling"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

An investigation published by Anticorup\u021bie.md<\/a> reveals that at least three vessels registered in Moldova were involved in illegal activities, human smuggling in particular. The ships owned by companies from Belize, Panama and Marshall Islands were used to smuggle over 2000 migrants to the European Union, to Italy especially. <\/p>\n

On September 16th 2014, Moldova-registered cargo vessel TISS was observed close to the coast of Sicily with 317 Syrian and Afghan migrants on board, abandoned by the captain and the crew. The migrants had had to pay from 4500 to 6000 US dollars to get into 60 meters long cargo ship heading for the EU. The 230 men, 37 women and 50 minors were saved by the Italian Coast Guard. TISS changed its ownership from an Marshall Islands off-shore company to an Istanbul-based and finally to Panama-based off-shore firm.
\nBut TISS was just the first Moldovan vessel used for smuggling. <\/p>\n

800 migrants on board of MERKUR 1 were again saved by the Italian Coast Guard on December 20th 2014. MERKUR 1 had an off-shore owner, Mangue Shipholding Inc, from Marshall Islands and then, Mediterranean Line Inc from Delaware (USA), when once it has been retained in Alexandria, Egypt. <\/p>\n

The third was the cargo BLUE SKY M, that during the night of December 30th-31st was found by the Italian authorities with 793 people on board, out of which 4 died. BLUE SKY M changed its owners from Marshall Islands to Belize, right before the smuggling act.<\/p>\n

All three vessels were erased from Moldova’s Register, at latest in March 2015. <\/p>\n

The Moldovan flag<\/a> appeared on dubious vessels around the world, when the Government approved in 2007 a decision regarding the rules of registering the ships in Moldova. The rules were facilitating: small taxes for registering, renewing the registration or the irradiation and the short time for paperwork, no age restrictions for ships. On August 17th 2016, the State Register of Vessels of Moldova would contain 109 marine ships. <\/p>\n

Shipowners generally use Moldova for either illegal acts such as smuggling or just for dismembering them, avoiding the EU regulations by paying smaller taxes. In the last 6 years, 82 ships were registered in Moldova just to disassemble them in Turkey, India or Bangladesh. <\/p>\n

Anticorup\u021bie.md reports that the Republic of Moldova was included in the black list of the Paris Memorandum, because the ships registered under Moldovan flag would have bad performances and high level of risk. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>An investigation published by Anticorup\u021bie.md reveals that at least three vessels registered in Moldova were involved in illegal activities, human smuggling in particular. The ships owned by companies from Belize, Panama and Marshall Islands were used to smuggle over 2000 migrants to the European Union, to Italy especially. On September 16th 2014, Moldova-registered cargo vessel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":442602,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-442601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society","category-world-news"],"content_social_share":"Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

An investigation published by Anticorup\u021bie.md<\/a> reveals that at least three vessels registered in Moldova were involved in illegal activities, human smuggling in particular. The ships owned by companies from Belize, Panama and Marshall Islands were used to smuggle over 2000 migrants to the European Union, to Italy especially. <\/p>\n

On September 16th 2014, Moldova-registered cargo vessel TISS was observed close to the coast of Sicily with 317 Syrian and Afghan migrants on board, abandoned by the captain and the crew. The migrants had had to pay from 4500 to 6000 US dollars to get into 60 meters long cargo ship heading for the EU. The 230 men, 37 women and 50 minors were saved by the Italian Coast Guard. TISS changed its ownership from an Marshall Islands off-shore company to an Istanbul-based and finally to Panama-based off-shore firm.
\nBut TISS was just the first Moldovan vessel used for smuggling. <\/p>\n

800 migrants on board of MERKUR 1 were again saved by the Italian Coast Guard on December 20th 2014. MERKUR 1 had an off-shore owner, Mangue Shipholding Inc, from Marshall Islands and then, Mediterranean Line Inc from Delaware (USA), when once it has been retained in Alexandria, Egypt. <\/p>\n

The third was the cargo BLUE SKY M, that during the night of December 30th-31st was found by the Italian authorities with 793 people on board, out of which 4 died. BLUE SKY M changed its owners from Marshall Islands to Belize, right before the smuggling act.<\/p>\n

All three vessels were erased from Moldova’s Register, at latest in March 2015. <\/p>\n

The Moldovan flag<\/a> appeared on dubious vessels around the world, when the Government approved in 2007 a decision regarding the rules of registering the ships in Moldova. The rules were facilitating: small taxes for registering, renewing the registration or the irradiation and the short time for paperwork, no age restrictions for ships. On August 17th 2016, the State Register of Vessels of Moldova would contain 109 marine ships. <\/p>\n

Shipowners generally use Moldova for either illegal acts such as smuggling or just for dismembering them, avoiding the EU regulations by paying smaller taxes. In the last 6 years, 82 ships were registered in Moldova just to disassemble them in Turkey, India or Bangladesh. <\/p>\n

Anticorup\u021bie.md reports that the Republic of Moldova was included in the black list of the Paris Memorandum, because the ships registered under Moldovan flag would have bad performances and high level of risk. <\/p>\n

<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>","yoast_head":"\nAnticoruptie.md: Three ships registered in Moldova were used for human smuggling - Moldova.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cristi Vlas\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cristi Vlas\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/dcbd06b375a29cab9233deffe7826a9f\"},\"headline\":\"Anticoruptie.md: Three ships registered in Moldova were used for human smuggling\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-09-30T14:35:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":397,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/2039112.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Society\",\"World News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling\\\/\",\"name\":\"Anticoruptie.md: Three ships registered in Moldova were used for human smuggling - Moldova.org\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/2039112.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-09-30T14:35:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/dcbd06b375a29cab9233deffe7826a9f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/2039112.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/2039112.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"Source: www.shipspotting.com\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Anticoruptie.md: Three ships registered in Moldova were used for human smuggling\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Moldova.org\",\"description\":\"The first news website of Moldova\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/dcbd06b375a29cab9233deffe7826a9f\",\"name\":\"Cristi Vlas\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9571533086858aeac4e82dcdcedc89ca83145ca3b5bdff443ef1f303ee16b179?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9571533086858aeac4e82dcdcedc89ca83145ca3b5bdff443ef1f303ee16b179?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9571533086858aeac4e82dcdcedc89ca83145ca3b5bdff443ef1f303ee16b179?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Cristi Vlas\"},\"description\":\"Correspondent reporter of Moldova.org Focus: Transnistrian conflict settlement, Eastern Partnership. Inquiries at cvlas@moldova.org\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/cristi.vlas.9\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/cristi_vlas\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/cristi-vlas-ab463276\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/twitter.com\\\/cristivlas\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/author\\\/cristivlas\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Anticoruptie.md: Three ships registered in Moldova were used for human smuggling - Moldova.org","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cristi Vlas","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling\/"},"author":{"name":"Cristi Vlas","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/dcbd06b375a29cab9233deffe7826a9f"},"headline":"Anticoruptie.md: Three ships registered in Moldova were used for human smuggling","datePublished":"2016-09-30T14:35:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling\/"},"wordCount":397,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/09\/2039112.jpg","articleSection":["Society","World News"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling\/","url":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling\/","name":"Anticoruptie.md: Three ships registered in Moldova were used for human smuggling - Moldova.org","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/09\/2039112.jpg","datePublished":"2016-09-30T14:35:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/dcbd06b375a29cab9233deffe7826a9f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/09\/2039112.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/09\/2039112.jpg","width":800,"height":600,"caption":"Source: www.shipspotting.com"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/anticoruptie-md-three-ships-registered-moldova-used-human-smuggling\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Anticoruptie.md: Three ships registered in Moldova were used for human smuggling"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/","name":"Moldova.org","description":"The first news website of Moldova","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/dcbd06b375a29cab9233deffe7826a9f","name":"Cristi Vlas","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9571533086858aeac4e82dcdcedc89ca83145ca3b5bdff443ef1f303ee16b179?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9571533086858aeac4e82dcdcedc89ca83145ca3b5bdff443ef1f303ee16b179?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9571533086858aeac4e82dcdcedc89ca83145ca3b5bdff443ef1f303ee16b179?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Cristi Vlas"},"description":"Correspondent reporter of Moldova.org Focus: Transnistrian conflict settlement, Eastern Partnership. Inquiries at cvlas@moldova.org","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cristi.vlas.9","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/cristi_vlas\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/cristi-vlas-ab463276\/","https:\/\/x.com\/twitter.com\/cristivlas"],"url":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/author\/cristivlas\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/442602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}