Radu Miruță rejects the accusations that ships sanctioned by the EU were operating in Constanța Port: “Facts and data matter”
The interim Minister of Defense, Radu Miruță, rejected the information appearing in the public space according to which six oil vessels on the sanctions lists of the European Union or the United States would have carried out activities in the Port of Constanța.
Acting Minister of Defense, Radu Miruță. PHOTO: The truth
In a post published on Facebook, the minister stated that none of the mentioned ships were under international sanctions at the time they entered or left the Romanian port.
“There is a lot of talk, sometimes even more accusations are made. But the facts are stubborn and cannot be changed by any sensationalist title. In the last few hours, information has circulated according to which six oil vessels on the EU/US sanctions lists would have operated in the port of Constanța. The subject is a serious one, it is legitimate to be of public interest, but it deserves to be discussed based on facts, not speculations”Miruta transmitted.
According to him, the checks carried out based on the official data provided by the state institutions show that the sanctions were subsequently imposed on the stopovers made in Romania.
Timeline presented by the Ministry of Defence
The minister detailed the situation of each vessel mentioned in the information that appeared in the public space.
Thus, the DASHAN ship, also known as MIANZIMU, last passed through the Port of Constanța in August 2023, being included on the sanctions list only in 2024.
The CELINE ship had its last call in Constanța on October 14, 2023, while the sanctions were imposed in October 2025.
In the case of the IRA ship, also known as BELA, it entered port on March 12, 2024 and departed three days later, being sanctioned during 2025.
The ship CROCO, later renamed ARIA, operated in the Port of Constanța in April 2025 and was included in the international sanctions list on 21 May 2025.
Also, SATNA entered the port on January 12, 2023, and the sanctions were adopted in May 2025. In the case of the PAXMARIS ship, the last passage through Constanța took place on September 8, 2024, while the inclusion on the sanctions list also occurred in May 2025.
“You can't violate sanctions that didn't exist”
Radu Miruță claims that the information presented proves that the respective ships did not violate the sanctions regime when they operated in Romania.
“This is the actual timeline of events from official data received from state institutions. A ship cannot be accused of violating sanctions that did not exist at the time it operated in a port. Facts and data matter. Always.” stated the interim Minister of Defense.
The statements come in the context of information that recently appeared in the public space regarding alleged links between the Port of Constanța and ships that later ended up on the international sanctions lists adopted by the European Union and the United States.
