Falcon tanker has just spent five days in the FinkSkebugten bay near large Russian oil and gas ports, where it was loaded. Its status is at best unclear – the Maritime Office informs that Falcon has the flag of Cameroon. At the same time, the French Equasis database, which collects ships on behalf of the EU, states that registration in Cameroon has expired in 2024. In turn, according to the usually well -informed British medium Lloyd's List Intelligence Falcon is constantly providing false information about registration in Cameroon.
So it looks like Falcon is a non -state ship. This means that no one exercises official control over it. According to international maritime law and many conventions, including the United Nations Convention on the Sea Law, having flag is mandatory.
Falcon is therefore exactly the ship to which the Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs declared that he was going to take action.
Lars Lokke Rasmussen said last weekend on TV 2 that Denmark will consider the confiscation of floating ships without flags or insurance. This is an unprecedented intervention in Russia's ability to export energy products through the Baltic Sea.
“If [załoga okrętu] cannot show appropriate insurance documents and [statek] There is no Bandera, the intervention is justified, “said Lars Lokke Rasmussen.
Danwatch, however, did not receive an answer from the authorities whether they intend to take action against Falcon.
According to Danwatch, Tanwiec did not order pilot services of the State Danpilot company to swim through the Danish straits.
Stefan Sauer / PAP
Eventin tanker belonging to the so -called Shadow fleets on the Reda Sassnitz, Germany, the Baltic Sea, January 12, 2025.
Experts give green light
Two experts assess in an interview with Danwatch that Falcon is a ship that dishes should definitely be interested in.
– This is definitely one of the ships on which the authorities focus. There are reasons for fear that there is no control over the safety and condition of the ship. This state of Bandera should ensure that someone will check the condition of the ship and its certificates – says Kristina Siig, a professor of maritime law at the University of South Denmark.
This is one of the few cases in which dishes can decide to intervene against the ship flowing between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, if the Equasis data is correct – believes the professor.
– Regardless of the conflict with Russia, such a ship that apparently swims without a flag is concerned – he adds.
In such situations, you can always go out, say hello and ask for a flag – he says what dishes can do.
Navy captain and military analyst Jens Wenzel Kristoffersen, who calls Falcona, “a perfect example of how difficult it is to take any action.”
– Usually, before the ship arrested, there must be a specific suspicion that it is not fit to sailing or something similar. The most important question is when the authorities decide to board and where they do it if the ship is not on the anchor – he says.
Usually, this Bandera protects ships against the detention and control of the coastal states, such as dishes, but according to Kristina Siig, the situation looks different in the case of ships without flags – because “Bandera does not protect them” – he says.
“That's why it is quite natural that dishes want to stop such a ship and check it,” he notes.
He disappeared from the radar
Data from Marinetraffic show that Falcon was received into the Gulf of Finnish on May 26 and disappeared from the radar, then appeared again on May 31 – five days after the signal disappearance.
For several days, Transponder Falcon indicated a false position on the anchor on the coast of Estonia. In fact, the ship was far from Russian territorial waters.
Falcon Danish authorities announced that he came from the port of Tallinn in Estonia. This is due to the internal report of the Naval Command, which Danwatch reached, in which it was also described that the ship refused to accept the pilot. However, according to its own register, come and leave the port in Tallinn Falcon never wrapped it.
Marinetraffic data also show that Falcon never publishes information about its visits to Russia. Danwatch analyzed his visits to ports until September 2024 and the tanker captain himself claims that he was only in Turkey. The ship is just flowing into it with full load.
The last time this ship was flowed into the Gulf of Finnish on March 30 and then exactly the same thing happened as now – it disappeared from the map for six days off the coast of Estonia, and then suddenly appeared again. Then he also sailed to Turkey.
The tanker swims without flag, there is no insurance or owners, which is why it belongs to the ships of the “shadow fleet”. According to the Independent Russian Investigative Portal The Insider Falcon, he has been swimming without Bandera since August 1, 2024. This is in line with Equasis data.
The position of the ship was falsified many times – that is, manipulated – before this case and according to Jens Wenzel Kristoffersen, this phenomenon is becoming more frequent. – Falsification of position has become a normal tactics used especially by ships of “shadow fleets”. They give other items so as not to attract attention – he says.
Manipulation of positional data intensified after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which is why the EU has established, among others, a working group that is to look at this problem.
Continuation of the material under the video
What next?
According to Marinetraffic, the Falcon ship seemed to flow through the Strait of the Great Bełt on Tuesday morning.
Danwatch turned to both the Maritime Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asking whether Falcon would be detained by the authorities.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent journalists to the Maritime Office, but before the publication it was not possible to get a comment from this institution. However, the maritime office wrote on June 2 that “the data contained in Equasis are historical data and are not necessarily true. According to information provided by the authorities, the Falcon ship is registered in Cameroon.”
However, this is not true, if you usually believe the well -informed Lloyd's Maritime Media, List of Intelligence, which states that Falcon is no longer registered in Cameroon, but still provides false information about having the band's bandry.
I’m Ashley Davis as an editor, I’m committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity and accuracy in every piece we publish. My work is driven by curiosity, a passion for truth, and a belief that journalism plays a crucial role in shaping public discourse. I strive to tell stories that not only inform but also inspire action and conversation.
