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Germany tows drifting tanker – believed to be Russian

The tanker, believed to be part of Russia’s efforts to evade sanctions, was discovered adrift in rough seas off Germany’s Baltic Sea coast.

A tugboat from Bremen was deployed and managed to tow it to safer waters off the neighboring German island of Rügen on Saturday.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called the incident a danger to security and tourism in the Baltic Sea.

The Panamanian-flagged Eventin was carrying 99,000 tonnes of oil from Russia to Egypt when it drifted for several hours. There is no immediate danger to the environment, German news agency dpa reported.

Greenpeace said the Eventin belonged to what is known as Russia’s “ghost fleet,” made up of hundreds of aging tankers that evade sanctions so that oil revenues continue to fuel the Russian state budget. The sanctions were imposed after Russia’s massive invasion of Ukraine.

Ms Baerbock said the incident showed that Russia was endangering European security “not only with its war of aggression against Ukraine”, but also with sabotage and disinformation “and even with dilapidated oil tankers”.

She added that Russia was not only circumventing sanctions “through the nefarious use of a fleet of rusting tankers”, but was also endangering tourism in the Baltic Sea.

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