Spain is monitoring an oil tanker from Russia's ghost fleet in the Mediterranean. The ship has technical problems

Spain announced on Tuesday that it is monitoring the situation of an oil tanker facing technical problems in the Mediterranean Sea and which is suspected of belonging to the “shadow fleet” of Russia, through which Moscow exports oil bypassing the sanctions imposed by Western countries, reports AFP.

The tanker “Chariot Tide, a vessel under the Mozambican flag, is currently moving at a speed of 7 knots (about 13 km/h) in the direction of Tangier Med (in Morocco)”, following an engine failure, said a source from the Spanish Ministry of Transport.

The ship, subject to European and British sanctions for transporting Russian oil, was docked on December 30 in an oil terminal in northwestern Russia, according to maritime traffic monitoring data. Later, on January 22, the tanker suffered an engine failure while passing through the Strait of Gibraltar.

The Moroccan authorities initially took over the coordination of the ship's assistance operations, but it was pushed by sea currents to the east, in the international waters between Spain and North Africa, up to approximately 33 nautical miles (about 60 km) from the Spanish coast, a situation that determined the intervention of the Spanish national maritime safety authority.

According to Spanish sources, the tanker is still maneuvering to try to reach Tangier, while it is “under escort” of a Spanish ship. However, the sources do not specify whether the tanker is loaded with oil that, from the point of view of the EU, would be subject to sanctions.

Around 600 ships are on the list of these sanctions imposed on Russia by the EU after the start of the invasion in Ukraine. The so-called “shadow fleet” is estimated at around 1,400 ships, some of them old and in poor technical condition. This fleet was created by Russia so that Western sanctions would not disrupt its oil exports.