Only two weeks after a Russian oil tanker was arrested by Finnish police for cutting key undersea cables, Russia again weaponizes it’s “shadow tanker” fleet with the now disabled oil tanker “Eventin” set adrift approximately 20 kilometers off the coast of the German island of Rügen in the Baltic Sea. The vessel, carrying about 99,000 tons of oil, is now being towed by authorities eastward with three tugboats as a precautionary measure. The “Eventin,” built in 2006 and sailing under the Panamanian flag, is listed as part of the so-called Russian shadow fleet, which transports Russian oil using rusty, aging vessels.
The tanker was en route from Ust-Luga, Russia, to Port Said, Egypt, when it became disabled due to a power and engine failure on Thursday evening. Despite challenging weather conditions, including gale-force winds and 2.5-meter-high waves, salvage operations are underway. The crew of 24 remains on board, and no evacuation is deemed necessary. Authorities report that the ship’s structure is intact, posing no immediate environmental threat. A surveillance flight confirmed the absence of oil spills in the area.
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern’s Environment Minister, Till Backhaus, expressed concern over the incident, highlighting the ongoing threat posed by the Russian shadow fleet to critical infrastructure and sensitive ecosystems.
As Russia is clearly at multi-level war with the entire western world, handing Ukraine the confiscated oil from these tankers would probably be the right thing to do.