European countries have intensified measures to restrict the activities of oil tankers belonging to the so-called shadow fleet of Russia and its partners. This marks the first instance where an EU country has prohibited a vessel of this type from entering its territorial waters.
This is reported by Finway
Denial of Entry into European Waters
On January 16, it was reported that an oil tanker identifying itself as Arcusat unsuccessfully attempted to enter the territorial waters of Germany. The vessel was moving between Denmark and Sweden towards German waters, but later changed course north towards the Arctic coast of Russia. Leading global shipping organizations were unable to identify this vessel based on its registration data. It is known that Arcusat has flown various flags, including those of Tanzania and Cameroon. The German federal police denied the tanker entry, making this case the first of its kind in Europe.
In addition, German authorities did not allow several other Russian vessels to pass through their waters. On January 17, Italian law enforcement detained a vessel flying the flag of Tuvalu, which was carrying 33,000 tons of Russian ferrous metal. This occurred after it left Russian territorial waters in the Black Sea.
Increased Control and Details of Detained Vessels
According to the publication “Militarny,” the vessel detained in Italy is the Turkish bulk carrier Hizer Reis, which was in the port of Novorossiysk in November. Monitoring services noted that this ship regularly traveled between the ports of Turkey and Russia.
“European countries seem to be increasingly intensifying pressure on vessels associated with Russia and its allies, whose shadow fleets often intertwine. Dozens of shadow fleet tankers off the coast of Venezuela have switched to using Russian flags in recent months, and many vessels of the shadow fleet linked to Russia are subject to sanctions for transporting cargoes in support of the Iranian regime,” analysts noted.
Experts emphasize that shadow fleets associated with the Russian Federation and its allies are increasingly attempting to evade sanctions and restrictions by using various flag states. The increased control by European states could significantly impact the logistics and revenues of the Russian oil and metallurgy industries.