A European Union mission led by Italy on the 2nd of August intercepted a Russian shadow fleet tanker, the second such operation in less than two weeks, Reuters reports.
The Italian Defense Ministry said the EU-sanctioned tanker Toa Payoh was intercepted west of the Sicilian island of Pantelleria and was en route from Benin to Istanbul.
The tanker was only registered in Cameroon last week. Authorities have launched an investigation into whether the vessel is legally allowed to fly the Cameroonian flag and whether its registration documents are valid.
A source in the EU mission, known as EUNAVFOR MED Irini, said it did not have the authority to seize ships during such operations, so the Toa Payoh was not detained. However, the documentation obtained during the inspection is currently being reviewed, and
the results may allow local authorities to seize the suspect vessel.
The captain of the Toa Payoh initially did not cooperate with the EU mission, so Italian military officials boarded the tanker from a helicopter. The inspection lasted two hours and was also attended by a Greek ship and a Polish maritime patrol aircraft. Russia has not yet commented.
On the 20th of July, another tanker linked to the Russian shadow fleet, the MV South Star, was stopped in the Mediterranean Sea, raising suspicions that it was operating under a false flag.
EUNAVFOR MED Irini is an EU naval mission established in 2020 to enforce the UN arms embargo on Libya. The mission’s mandate has since been expanded to allow it to board ships for inspections.
The post Shadow fleet tanker inspected in Mediterranean appeared first on Baltic News Network.
