British News Agency

Sergey Turkmenyan, CEO of SVS Shipping — the company organizing and operating the route — told Izvestia that the ship will arrive in Sochi at 13:00 Moscow time and will be ready for internal inspection.

The ferry departed from Trabzon on November 5 at 21:10 Moscow time. This was the first voyage on the Trabzon–Sochi route after a 14-year hiatus. At the time, it was announced that the company had upgraded passengers who purchased tickets to cabin class to celebrate the relaunch.

A day earlier, the Association of Russian Tour Operators (ATOR) reported that the “Sea Bridge” ferry was unable to disembark passengers in Sochi due to the lack of an entry permit to Russia. The vessel arrived in Sochi around 10:00, but the Russian side refused entry to its territorial waters, and the Sochi port was closed until 12:00 due to drills.

The association also noted that issues with the permit began during the ferry’s test voyage and have remained unresolved until now.