The oil tanker Eventin, adrift in the Baltic Sea Photo: Handout / AFP / Profimedia
A German tugboat stopped the drift of an oil tanker carrying 99,000 tons from Russia and which could no longer be maneuvered in the German area of the Baltic Sea, near the island of Rugen, writes Reuters.
The 274-meter Panamanian-flagged Eventin was traveling from Russia to Egypt but became unmanoeuvrable early Friday morning, Germany’s Central Maritime Emergency Command said.
The tug has immobilized the vessel, and others are on the way, with the authorities to decide the next course. Crew evacuation was not required.
“Russia endangers European security not only because of the illegal war of aggression against Ukraine, but also because cut marine cablesdisinformation campaigns, jamming the GPS signal and with decrepit oil tankers,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in a press release.
“By unscrupulously using a fleet of rusty oil tankers, Putin circumvents sanctions and deliberately accepts the risk of stopping tourism in the Baltic Sea region,” said the head of diplomacy in Berlin.
Baerbock argues that the incident is one of the examples that justify the position of Germany and another country to impose sanctions against Russian oil tankers.
The incident is the latest in a series in which Russian ships have been involved in damaging or even breaking some electrical or telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea, with coastal countries suspecting that it is. deliberate acts of sabotage.
