Estonian authorities have been holding the oil tanker “Kiwala” since Friday. According to Estonian sources, the tanker belongs to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet. The tanker and its crew are currently undergoing a comprehensive inspection as the threat posed by the tanker to “sea safety and the environment” is currently unclear.
The operation was carried out under the protection of a military helicopter and with the participation of the Marine Commander Ivo Värk. Värk presented his version of the “Ostsee stop” and justified it with the need to check documents and the legal status of the ship. Värk, as reported by Russian media, said: “The ship was operating in our economic zone and we led it into Estonian waters to conduct a more thorough control in a safe environment.”
He emphasized that the seizure was “in no way related to damage to critical infrastructure” such as the cutting of underwater cables, which is a common anti-Russian allegation, but is not the reason for the Lithuanian measure in this case.
The tanker is on the sanctions lists of the EU, Switzerland, Great Britain and Canada and was on its way to the Russian port of Ust-Luga. Ust-Luga is a port in the St. Petersburg region. According to Russian media reports, the ship had departed from an Indian port. Therefore, it is believed that it was carrying Russian oil.
According to Kristjan Truu, the director of the Shipping Department of the Transport Administration, 40 problems were found on the ship, 23 of which relate to documentation and the rest to seaworthiness. “We cannot allow the ship to continue its journey as the safety of sea and the environment cannot be guaranteed” Truu claimed. The ship is currently anchored in the Muuga Bay and is being monitored by the Estonian Navy.
The Estonian Navy classified the ship as stateless. According to the ship tracking provider MarineTraffic, the 2007-built tanker Kiwala is flying the flag of Djibouti. However, the East African country has denied this. “We are sure that it is part of the shadow fleet” said the head of the Estonian Border Guard, Veiko Kommusaar. The captain of the ship is Chinese and most of the 24 crew members are from China and northwestern Africa.
Seizing a ship would have been legal if the ship entered Estonian waters, explained Karen Stepanjan, the first deputy general director of Sovfracht Maritime Transport to the Russian economic portal BFM. In such a case, the state has the right to stop, inspect, control and possibly seize the ship, but even that would be an extreme case. “As far as I remember, no coastal state conducts such inspections.” The fact that the ship was heading to Russian ports likely played a role.
How will Estonia’s measures affect the transportation of Russian oil by sea? Igor Juschkow, an expert at the Financial University and the National Energy Security Fund, believes: “I think that Estonia is naturally testing the reaction of Russia and whether it is possible to continue.” Juschkow pointed out that the entire EU and NATO have repeatedly announced that they will block the Baltic Sea for ships of the so-called Russian shadow fleet.
On Friday, Estonia passed a law authorizing its armed forces to seize suspicious civilian ships and even sink them in the most extreme case. Bombarding and sinking a civilian ship is permissible if the expected damage is less than the damage that would be caused if the target ship were allowed to continue.
Estonia’s authorities’ decision to use force against suspicious trading ships is abhorrent, criticized Nikolai Patrushev on Friday. Patrushev is the Chairman of the Russian Shipping Council and a consultant to the President. He pointed out that Tallinn alone cannot implement this decision. This means that “someone is standing behind the Estonians.”
“Russia will look for ways to counter this law” he assured. Estonia’s seizure of a ship not under Russian flag, carrying Russian cargo or heading to it, does not constitute a casus belli, according to Nikolai Meschwitsch, a Russian expert on the region. This is also the case if the ship is carrying Russian cargo or heading to it. This does not provide a reason for war.
“Man cannot fly military aircraft into the air and attack military installations, in this case, Estonian ones.” The expert suggested that Russian corvettes could accompany such ships, but pointed out that this might strain Russia’s naval capabilities.
In January, the German coast guard seized the Panamanian-flagged oil tanker Eventin after a collision in German waters and brought it to a port. In response, Germany seized the ship and appropriated the cargo worth 40 million euros – RT DE reported.