The German news site Bild citing DGzRS, the German Maritime Rescue Service, said on Friday afternoon that the 248-meter (814-feet) long Panama registered tanker “Eventin” was adrift in the Baltic Sea, north of the island of Rügen off the coast of Germany.
The 18-year-old tanker is said to be part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” used to circumvent sanctions imposed in response to its invasion of Ukraine and designed to prevent Moscow benefitting from oil exports.
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According to Bild, the vessel was loaded with almost 100,000 tons of oil at the Russian port of Ust-Luga in the Leningrad region on Jan. 6, with a declared destination of Port Said, in Egypt.
The Moscow Times reported that the Eventin was first launched as the “Storviken” under the Norwegian flag in 2006 and was re-registered in Panama as the “Charvi” on behalf of a Dubai-based company in 2022 before being renamed as the Eventin in June 2024.
It said that, according to open-source data, the tanker’s previous voyages were to Visakhapatnam in India, which has not joined sanctions against Russia and is said to be second only to China in terms of volumes of Russian oil purchases.
DGzRS is understood to have dispatched a Dornier Do 228 reconnaissance aircraft to the scene along with the oil spill response vessel “Arkona” and the “Bremen Fighter” emergency tug “to defend against further danger.” It said it was also sending a specially trained towing team to get the tanker under full control.
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According to the Central Maritime Emergencies Command (Havariekommando), no oil leak has yet been detected from the vessel, there is no current threat to the environment, and there is no need to evacuate the crew.
According to Lloyd’s List, there are as many as 650 tankers available to work in Russia’s shadow fleet, of which around 300 regularly transport oil on behalf of Moscow. By the end of 2024, the US, UK and the EU had imposed sanctions on about 180 tankers identified as part of the shadow fleet transporting oil from Russia in defiance of sanctions and in violation of the $60 per barrel “price ceiling.” More than 100 of those tankers have been taken out of commission according to Bloomberg, and US President Joe Biden plans to blacklist more than a hundred more vessels from the shadow fleet before leaving office.
Apart from their role in sanctions busting, there is a real environmental threat from the Russian shadow fleet, which are often in poor technical condition, have inexperienced crews, sail under foreign flags, and are run by unknown owners, often without insurance.
This was amply demonstrated in mid-December when an ageing tanker, the Volgoneft-212, sank in the Black Sea, and a second vessel, the Volgoneft-239, ran aground near the Black Sea port of Taman. Said by Russian authorities to be carrying less than 10,000 tons between them, the oil that has leaked from the two vessels is causing a major environmental disaster, polluting the Black Sea coastline and killing hundreds of sea birds and dozens of dolphins.
The concern by German authorities in relation to the breakdown of the Eventin is therefore thoroughly understandable.
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