The Eagle S tanker, which could be the cause of the recent breakdown of a submarine electric cable linking Finland to Estonia, is suspected of being part of a “ghost fleet”.
On Wednesday December 25, 2024, around 12:26 p.m. local time, the EstLink 2 direct current link between Finland and Estonia disconnected from the network. Finland has opened an investigation for “sabotage” into the role of an oil tanker from Russia, suspected of being at the origin of the breakdown of the submarine electric cable linking the two countries. The tanker Eagle S, flying the flag of the Cook Islands, was boarded on Thursday and escorted by a Finnish patrol boat off the coast of Porkkala, about 30 kilometers from Helsinki.
The ship is suspected of being part of a “ghost fleet” according to Finnish police. Late Thursday, the European Union announced that it wanted to take new sanctions against Russian ships.
• What is Russia’s “ghost fleet”?
The “ghost fleet” refers to ships carrying embargoed Russian crude oil and petroleum products. Since the invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine’s international backers have sought to limit the funds that fuel the Kremlin’s war machine by imposing price caps and restrictions on Russia’s oil exports.
To circumvent these restrictions, Russia notably uses ships that are often aging and operated under foreign flags by dubious owners, without adequate insurance. Made up of around 600 ships, the Russian “ghost fleet” transports nearly 1.7 million barrels of oil per day, London estimated in July.
• Where is the European Union in its fight against the “ghost fleet”?
Two weeks ago, EU member countries already agreed to sanction around 50 additional ships from the “ghost fleet”, which allows Russia to export its oil by circumventing Western restrictions. This measure was officially announced as part of the fifteenth package of EU sanctions targeting Russian interests since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and was ratified ten days ago by the Twenty-Seven. Diplomats said the new sanctions package would bring the number of vessels on the EU blacklist to 75.
“The suspicious ship is part of Russia’s ghost fleet, which threatens security and the environment, while financing Russia’s war budget, the European Commission and the head of European diplomacy said in a statement on Thursday Kaja Kallas.
• Is the EU alone in targeting Russia’s “ghost fleet”?
In recent months, the United Kingdom has been particularly active in countering these ships. 46 countries and the European Union signed the call to act against the “ghost fleet” launched by London in July at the summit of the European Political Community (EPC) held in England. In mid-October, the country announced a fourth round of sanctions targeting 18 oil tankers and 4 LNG tankers.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the eighteen targeted tankers transported approximately “4.9 billion dollars” last year alone. The ships affected can no longer enter British ports or benefit from maritime services provided by British companies, particularly in terms of insurance.
A “significant” number of them are now “forced to anchor outside ports around the world, thus unable to continue providing funds to (Vladimir) Putin’s war chest”, says the Ministry of Affairs British Foreign Affairs.
At the end of November, London took sanctions against 30 additional ships, half of which transported more than 4 billion euros worth of oil and petroleum products over the past year. Barely ten days ago, the United Kingdom exceeded the threshold of 100 sanctioned vessels by targeting 20 additional boats. The country also took measures against two entities of the energy company 2Rivers, “pillar of the oil trade” with Moscow.
Finally, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Finland and Estonia agreed this month to step up their fight against “ghost” ships in the Baltic Sea or the North Sea, calling for their maritime authorities to request proof of insurance from suspect boats.
• Do other countries use a “ghost fleet”?
If Moscow’s “ghost fleet” is particularly dense, Russia is not the only country to use this stratagem to export its hydrocarbons to foreign markets by circumventing Western restrictions. In early December, the United States imposed economic sanctions targeting 35 ships from Iran’s “ghost fleet.”
On October 11, Washington imposed a series of sanctions targeting the Iranian petrochemical industry in “response to the October 1 attack on Israel, the second direct attack this year.” These sanctions targeted the entire sector, but also around twenty ships as well as companies based abroad.
“Oil revenues provide the Iranian regime with the resources necessary to finance its nuclear program, develop advanced drones and missiles, and provide ongoing financial and material support for the terrorist activities of its regional proxies,” the US Treasury Department said in a statement. press release.
The sanctions result in the freezing of assets held directly or indirectly by the targeted companies in the United States as well as the ban on companies based in the United States, or American citizens, from trading with these sanctions targets, at the risk of be sanctioned in turn. They also, in fact, complicate the commercial exchanges of companies under sanction, by limiting their possibility of using the dollar in their transactions, at the risk of falling under American jurisdiction.
