KYIV. Jan 30 (Interfax) - The Zaporizhzhia region police have initiated a criminal case following a report by a relative on the disappearance of Vladimir Gorbenko, the captain of the Crimea-based Nord vessel.
"A criminal case has been opened under the Article 115 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code with additional qualification as a 'missing person,'" the press service for the regional police told Interfax.
This is the routine procedure when a missing person report is filed, it said.
On January 29, Gorbenko's brother reported his disappearance to the Melitopol police department in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukrainian National Police spokesperson Iaroslav Trakalo told Interfax.
On March 25, 2018, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine detained the Nord and its ten-member crew in the Sea of Azov.
Its captain was accused of violating the rules for sailing to and from what Kyiv calls occupied Ukrainian territory with a view to harming the country's interests and illegal fishing on industrial scale.
A court in Kherson released the captain on a personal surety. During the preliminary inquiry, Gorbenko stayed with relatives in Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region. On June 19 the court refused to extend the captain's obligations not to visit Crimea.
The Obolonskyi District Court has been hearing the case since October 16, 2018.
On January 10, the court adjourned until February 1.