Germany was racing to free a heavily loaded tanker stranded off its northern coast on Saturday, and towing the stricken vessel away from the coast to stop an oil spill, raising concerns about Russia’s sanctions-busting “shadow”. Was part of the “fleet”.
274 meters long eventin According to Germany’s Central Command for Maritime Emergencies, the ship was sailing from Russia to Egypt with about 100,000 tons of oil when its engine failed and it lost the ability to maneuver.
As the ship drifted ashore in coastal waters on Friday, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock criticized Russia’s use of “dilapidated oil tankers” to avoid sanctions on its oil exports, calling it a threat to European security.
Three tugs have joined it eventin and attempting to move it north-east, away from the coast and towards a “safer” area where there is “more sea space”, the command said.
It said it had taken “safety measures” due to waves up to 2.5 meters high and strong wind gusts at sea.
The ship was stopped 14 kilometers from the coast near the island of Rügen.
Officials said Friday that multiple surveillance flights detected no oil spill, and responders have provided radios and flashlights to the stranded crew.
Which will take about eight hours to pull off eventin The command said early Saturday that they expected it to be reached by mid-morning, about 25 kilometers north-east of Cape Arcona, a safe water area.
‘Rusty tanker’
Although the tanker was sailing under the Panamanian flag, the German Foreign Ministry linked it to a “shadow fleet” breaking Russian sanctions.
Baerbock said that “By recklessly deploying a fleet of rusting tankers, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is not only bypassing sanctions, but also willingly admitting that tourism on the Baltic Sea would collapse in the event of an accident.” Will be done”.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Western countries have imposed sanctions on Russia’s oil industry and banned ships carrying oil by sea.
In response, Russia has relied on tankers with opaque ownership or without proper insurance to continue lucrative oil exports.
According to the American think tank Atlantic Council, the number of ships in the “shadow fleet” has increased since the start of the war in Ukraine.
In addition to direct action against Russia’s oil industry, Western countries have moved to sanction individual ships considered to be in the shadow fleet.
The EU has so far sanctioned more than 70 ships carrying Russian oil.
The United States and Britain on Friday moved to impose sanctions on about 180 more ships in the shadow fleet.
