Russian vessel with Rooppur equipment returns without unloading

A Russian vessel under US sanction has returned from India without unloading the products for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Bangladesh.

Named 'URSA MAJOR', the ship waited for around two weeks to unload the cargo in India. However, it failed to get permission from New Delhi to unload the products. Under such circumstances, the vessel left the Indian maritime boundary on 16 January.

On that very same day, Russia informed Bangladesh that the goods for Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant will be sent on a different vessel instead of the ‘URSA MAJOR’ from next time. A senior official of the foreign ministry disclosed this information to Prothom Alo on Thursday morning.

According to diplomatic sources, the URSA MAJOR was supposed to unload products at the Haldia port in West Bengal of India. There is a connection between the ship failing to unload the products and the recent visit of US assistant secretary of state for south and central Asian affairs Donald Lu to India and Bangladesh, according to the sources.

On condition of anonymity a official of the government told this correspondent that during the visit of Donald Lu, the issue of URSA MAJOR carrying cargo for the Rooppur power plant came up in the discussion at the foreign ministry on 15 January. At the time Bangladesh informed him the Rooppur power plant project will be delayed due to the complications regarding unloading the product from URSA MAJOR, which is under US embargo.

The US assistant secretary of state was further informed that the same vessel had unloaded goods in India. The US came up with the sanction related issue when it docked in Bangladesh for unloading.

Russian flag carrier URSA MAJOR was supposed to reach Mongla Port for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant on December 24. However, the US embassy in Dhaka informed Bangladesh on December 20 that the vessel carrying the goods was not URSA MAJOR, but Sparta 3, which faces US sanctions.

After confirming the matter, Bangladesh authorities refused to let the ship anchor at Mongla Port. The Department of Shipping then told the local shipping agent for Sparta 3 that it would help the ship offload the materials at Haldia Port in Kolkata and then bring the equipment to Rooppur by waterway or road.Officials could not say why Sparta 3 could not offload the equipment at Haldia Port.

"Perhaps the agent could not negotiate with Haldia Port authorities or there was pressure from the US side on India," a foreign ministry official said.The official said this incident would definitely impact the work of the project being implemented by the Russian Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation.