Germany confiscated a Russian shadow fleet ship along with €40 million worth of oil — wants to show Russia the seriousness of sanctions

German customs have seized the Russian shadow fleet tanker Eventin along with its cargo of approximately 100 000 tons of crude oil worth almost €40 million. It is now the property of Germany.

This is reported by Der Spiegel.

Customs officers detained the Panamanian-flagged tanker Eventin, which was transporting oil from the port of Ust-Luga to Egypt via the Baltic Sea. Due to an engine malfunction, the vessel began to drift off the coast of the island of Rügen. It was towed into the waters near the city of Sassnitz

on January 10 due to the threat of an oil spill, after which it was constantly monitored by the coast guard and federal police. At the end of February, the tanker was added to the EU sanctions list.

The German authorities decided to seize the ship to demonstrate to Russia that the country is serious about attempts to circumvent sanctions and is not going to passively observe the transit of Russian oil through the Baltic Sea.

Germany is currently deciding how to safely pump oil from the Eventin tanks and what to do with the tanker itself. The state government of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is keen to get rid of the vessel as soon as possible, fearing the negative impact on the environment and tourism.

The Ministry of Finance, which is responsible for customs, declined to comment on the situation, citing that customs measures are still ongoing and the security situation remains difficult.

What is known about the Russian shadow fleet?

In early December 2022, the G7 members, as well as Australia and the EU, imposed price caps on Russian oil, setting a maximum price of $60 per barrel. From February 5, 2023, these countries introduced price ceilings on Russian petroleum products: $100 for diesel fuel, $45 for various lubricants.

To circumvent oil sanctions, Russia has begun to form a shadow fleet. In July, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer reported the suppression of Russiaʼs so-called shadow fleet of oil tankers, which helps it circumvent sanctions. At that time, under the leadership of the United Kingdom, 44 European countries and the European Union agreed on new sanctions. The United States and Canada later joined the program. Since then, countries have periodically updated sanctions against the Russian shadow fleet and added new tankers to the sanctions list.

At the same time, Prime Minister Starmerʼs Office noted that some of the shadow fleet ships function as Russian listening stations, while others transport weapons to Russia.

In July, Keir Starmer said that Russia’s shadow fleet consists of almost 600 ships and accounts for about 10% of the world’s “wet cargo”

fleet. With its help, Russia transports about 1.7 million barrels of oil per day, which brings large profits to the Kremlin.

Various countries regularly impose sanctions against the Russian shadow fleet, with more and more vessels falling under restrictions.

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