Professor-Katsman

The "Professor Katsman" ran aground on May 24, 2015, at 11.30 p.m. on the Volga at km mark 2631 while en route from Rotterdam via St. Petersburg to Bak with 2427 tons of general cargo on board. Ship traffic was not affected, the salvage under way.

The United States described Moscow's latest arms sale to Syria as "reprehensible" after a rights group reported on Thursday that a Russian cargo ship heavily laden with weapons arrived in Syria last weekend. Western officials confirmed information from Human Rights First that the ship arrived on Saturday, bringing to the Syrian port of Tartus a cache of heavy weapons for Syrian President Bashar Assad, who for 14 months has used his security forces to attack an increasingly militarized opposition. "Today's updated shipping databases show that the Professor Katsman did in fact dock in the port of Tartus on May 26, 2012 before heading to Piraeus, Greece," Sadia Hameed of Human Rights First told Reuters. http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=272276

A Russian cargo ship loaded with weapons is en route to Syria and due to arrive at a Syrian port this weekend, Al Arabiya television said in a report that Western diplomats in New York described on Friday, May 26th 2012 as credible. "Al Arabiya have learned that a Russian cargo ship carrying a large amount of weapons plans to unload its cargo in the Syrian port of Tartus," the broadcaster said on its website on Thursday. The report said the ship left a Russian port on May 6 and cited a "Western source" as saying that it will dock at Tartus on Saturday. "The ship is trying to conceal its final destination in a suspicious way," Al Arabiya said. Western diplomats and officials said the report was credible. More at http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-05-25/news/sns-rt-us-syria-arms-russiabre84p00b-20120525_1_syrian-president-bashar-al-assad-cargo-ship-russian-firm