Ships leaving the easternmost port of Estonia, Sillamae, began to choose the most dangerous route. They go through the shoals in the territorial waters of the country to enter the international transport corridor in the neutral waters of the Gulf of Finland. Vessels will not use a safe route through Russian waters after a tanker was detained there, Tallinn said.
After the tanker is detained in Russian waters, vessels leaving the port of Sillamae choose the most dangerous route to the neutral waters of the Gulf of Finland, where the international transport corridor passes. At least, the first cargo ship that set sail from the easternmost port of Estonia after the incident went this way. The 100-meter Dalsland cargo ship set course in the territorial waters of the country and entered the international corridor already opposite Tallinn. He's going to Sweden.
According to Equasis, the vessel belongs to the German Medusa Shipping and is operated by Tom Worden also from Germany. The latter operates a fleet of 50 vessels.
It is not known whether other vessels will follow such a route when leaving Sillamae. It is known that the new route is dangerous with shoals. At the same time, the tankers taking shale oil to Sillamae are several times longer, and their draft is three times larger than that of a bulk carrier (15 meters).
However, it was on this route that the Estonian authorities stopped after Russia detained the Green Admire tanker on May 18, which exported shale oil to Rotterdam and entered the main transport route in the Gulf of Finland traditionally through Russian territorial waters.
"Our pilots will now take vessels out of Sillamae through the territorial waters of Estonia. Yes, for large vessels it is a little more difficult and dangerous because of the shoals, but we will cope," Foreign Minister Margus Tsakhkna said in an interview with the "Actual Camera".
On the evening of May 19, the Green Admire tanker was released from Russia, and in The Estonian Navy, as reported by ERR, said that the ship itself created the reason for the detention.
"The Russians warned the tanker several times about entering the danger zone and ordered it to change course. It is unclear whether the reason for the incident was the language barrier, the unwillingness of the tanker to take a longer route, or the fact that the warnings of the Russian authorities simply were not heeded. It is known that at the time of shipment the vessel was in technically sound condition," wrote ERR with reference to the Estonian Navy.
Estonian politicians, on the other hand, believed that the detention of the tanker was Russia's response to Estonia's own attempts to seize ships to transport oil from Russia.
"This is definitely due to the fact that we have begun to put pressure on the shadow fleet of Russia. And I am talking not only about Estonia, but also about Finland and the countries of the Baltic region as a whole," said Margus Tsakhkna. He told reporters that the Russian security forces behaved correctly during the detention and the crew and the shipowner did not contact the Estonian authorities.
As EADaily reported, the incident with the tanker occurred after a number of attempts by the Estonian authorities to detain tankers for the transportation of Russian oil. Less than a week ago, the Estonian Navy tried to force the Jaguar tanker to turn off the route to the Russian Primorsk in the Gulf of Finland and enter Estonian territorial waters. Specialized military telegram channels reported that the AgustaWestland AW139 helicopter, the M28 Skytruck aircraft and the EML Raju patrol boat participated in the operation. Their attempts, however, were unsuccessful, as the Russian Su-35 fighter appeared. After its flights, the Estonian authorities abandoned attempts to detain the vessel.
Earlier, in April, the Estonian Navy forced the Kiwala tanker to change course, which was detained in its territorial waters. He is under EU sanctions. The Estonian Navy stated that the vessel may not have insurance and registration. By the end of April, all the requirements for the elimination of technical deficiencies had been fulfilled on board the tanker, and the Estonian side could not find any other claims. Therefore, the ship was forced to let go.
Part of the countries The EU has created a coalition that is trying to fight Russia's oil revenues by putting pressure on the shadow fleet. They are called vessels older than 15 years, which carry sanctioned oil and belong to unknown owners. So far, however, the countries The EU cannot do anything with the tankers of the shadow fleet, and sanctions against 300 vessels that have been banned from entering EU ports and providing services have an extremely limited effect. This is the reason for the radical leadership of individual EU countries to escalate, to which Russia has been responding since last week.