With unconfirmed reports that the Ukrainian Navy was destroyed by the Russian forces , the Russian Navy captured the Ukrainian SAR tug SAPFIR off Zmeiniy Island known also as Snake Island.
SAPFIR berthed at Grand Harbour, Malta in 1989.
Her communication was lost and she was deployed in unspecified mission in Ukraine SAR Region . Ship’s position and status, crew fate, are presently unknown. Normally she’s moored at Sevastopol. She left Odesa Port on Friday 25th February at 0845 UTC.
SAPFIR was built by the Yaroslavskiy Shipbuilding in USSR in 1988 with 58 metres long and 1,178 GRT.
As a civilian tug she was seen towing several ships including former Canadian Navy ships from Canada to breakers in Turkey and back on 14th July 1998 she was seen leaving Portsmouth, UK towing the former East German Navy Koni Class Corvette 141 ROSTOCK as per below image –
Her Radio Callsign was EMMO with mmsi as 272256000.
Watermarked Photos are by Capt. Lawrence Dalli otherwise stated. Do not use these images without my permission. © All rights reserved. Malta Ship Photos & Action Photos – www.maltashipphotos.com
Published – Sunday 27th February, 2022