India refuses Ursa Major to dock, off load at Haldia Port

The Indian government has refused to let the Russian flag carrier Ursa Major, carrying equipment for Bangladesh's first ever nuclear power plant to anchor at West Bengal's Haldia Port, which faces US sanctions.
The Russian ship is now heading back to Russia. For last one month, the Ursa Major appears to be consigned to an extended wait off the coast of the Sundarban.
The Foreign Ministry official said that the Russian Embassy in Dhaka has informed them that the ship is moving back to Russia without being able to offload at Haldia Port, however, officials could not say why the ship failed to offload the equipment at the Port.
The Russian flag carrier Ursa Major is also referred to as Sparta 3. On May 8, 2022,     the US State Department imposed sanctions on the ship and identified it as a blocked property.  
Earlier, the government of Bangladesh has denied entry to the Russian ship. Ursa Major was supposed to reach Mongla Port for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant on December 24. 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.
Meanwhile, Rosatom, the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation, is the contractor of the RNPP has issued a statement on Thursday taking full responsibility for compliance of the project as per schedule.
"Rosatom takes full responsibility for compliance with the schedule for the construction of the Rooppur NPP in Bangladesh. Nuclear power plant construction works are running in full swing. For the project implementation, we are in cooperation with a significant number of partners, and working on finding out optimal logistics routes," the short statement said.
However, Ursa Major (ex name Sparta III) is not just any ship. She is linked to Russian shipping company SC South, which delivers cargo for the Russian Ministry of Defense, including construction materials for Russia's string of bases in the High Arctic, according to the US State Department.
 SC South is a subsidiary of Oboronlogistika OOO, a logistics provider serving the Russian military. Both companies were sanctioned by the US Treasury in May 2022 in connection with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Science and Technology Ministry has banned the ship from entering the country and delivering her cargo, following the ban, the Russian Embassy in Dhaka has filed a formal letter of protest with the Bangladeshi government.
"Russia informed us that they sent the vessel by mistake and would now replace it with another ship to carry the consignment for Rooppur power plant and deliver it at the Bangladesh port," Yeafesh Osman.
The last shipments for the Rooppur plant were delivered aboard a mix of Russian and neutral, foreign-flag vessels. These include the Russian-flagged Kamilla and the Liberian-flagged Dragonball.
"They (Russian) will send the equipment through other foreign-flag vessels what they told us," Yeafesh Osman told the Daily Observer on Thursday.