Near Germany, a Russian "shadow" tanker carrying 100,000 tons of oil lost control.

A 248-meter tanker named Eventin, part of Russia's "shadow fleet," lost control in the Baltic Sea, north of the island of Rügen. The vessel, drifting near Germany's shores, is carrying 99,000 tons of oil.

Source. This information comes from BILD, citing the Maritime Emergency Rescue Service of Germany.

The Eventin tanker sails under the Panamanian flag and is 18 years old, the publication specifies. It loaded oil at the Russian port of Ust-Luga and set sail for the Egyptian port of Said on January 6.

According to BILD, the vessel is part of the so-called "shadow fleet of the Russian Federation," which helps Russia circumvent Western sanctions imposed in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

Eventin was launched in 2006 under the Norwegian flag with the name Storviken. In 2022, the ship was registered in Panama as Charvi and received its current name in June 2024. The tanker’s owner is unknown. Journalists discovered that Charvi was owned by a Dubai-based company established in 2022 and dissolved in March 2024.

If open data is to be believed, the tanker’s last voyages were to the Indian port of Visakhapatnam. India is the world’s second-largest buyer of Russian oil (after China).

The drifting tanker is being accompanied by the multipurpose vessel Arkona and the emergency tug Bremen Fighter "to avoid further dangers," reported German authorities.

In addition, a specially trained team has been urgently dispatched to board the Eventin and take it in tow. A reconnaissance aircraft, Do 228, has also been sent to the scene.

According to the Central Maritime Emergency Command, no oil leak has been detected on the vessel, and there is no threat to the environment, nor is there a need to evacuate the crew.

Estimates from Lloyd's List Intelligence indicate that over 650 tankers are currently part of the shadow fleet transporting Russian oil in circumvention of sanctions.

Of these, 250-300 vessels regularly carry barrels of Russian origin. By the end of last year, the U.S., Britain, and the European Union imposed sanctions on approximately 180 tankers that transported oil from Russia in violation of the "price cap" of $60 per barrel.

Of these, more than 100 tankers were forced to anchor and are no longer transporting Russian oil, according to Bloomberg.

Background. It’s worth noting that fuel oil from damaged Russian ships has reached Crimea, polluting the shores. One of the oil slicks has reached Sevastopol. Environmentalists warn that the fuel oil will soon reach Odesa.