Oil tanker Eventin” before Rügen: Sturm and criticism of Russia's shadow fleet!

The tanker “Eventin” has suffered a machine failure in the Baltic Sea in front of Rügen and has been anchor with almost 100,000 tons of oil on board since Friday afternoon. The 274 -meter -long ship was on the way from UST Luga (Russia) to Port Said (Egypt) when the emergency occurred. The storm that came up in the evening brought additional challenges, but the towing connection to the emergency tractor "Bremen Fighter" keeps the ship in position.

German emergency ships had taken control of the tanker a few hours after the machine failure. According to the accident command, there is currently no danger to the environment because the ship is tight. The 24 seafarers who are on board are not in danger and stay on the ship. The exact reason for the machine failure has so far been unclear.

criticism of Russia and the shadow fleet

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock expressed sharp criticism of Russia, which operates with dilapidated tankers and thereby endangered tourism. In the meantime, Lithuania's Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys calls for a more decisive approach to Russia's shadow fleet. The Greenpeace organization warned of the dangers that assume this shadow fleet and called for further sanctions of the EU.

Greenpeace activists have identified old tankers as a serious environmental risk, and pointed out that the Russian shadow fleet has been confronted with numerous sanctions by the West since the war of aggression against Ukraine, which, however, are not sufficient. The trips to the oil tankers have increased by 70 percent since January 2021, with around 1,000 tankers loaded with oil last year.

Russia financed the war in Ukraine partly by illegal oil sales, often under unclear ownership and without sufficient insurance coverage. The average age of the tankers is 17 years, which is considered questionable. Greenpeace has even put together a list of around 200 freights classified as "particularly dangerous", which also tightens the situation.

The context of the current events is also referred to the incident in mid -October when the tanker "Annika" caught fire, but did not emerge, which illustrates the potential risks of such trips, like Radio Euskirchen reported .

The EU put 27 shadow tankers on a sanction list in June, and the European Parliament calls for consistent action against the shadow fleet and improved surveillance. Targeted measures are to be introduced with the upcoming EU sanctions in order to contain Russia's aggressive oil policy, which Deutschlandfunk reported .