“Early in the morning, the Estonian Navy stopped the ship without flags – said Michal in a post on social media. – Our authorities are currently on board, checking its legal status and security.
The ship was heading to the Port of Ust-Bąt, a key Russian oil port in the Baltic Sea, according to the Estonian public broadcaster ERR.
Moscow commands a huge fleet of tankers exporting oil in the Baltic Sea, which uses to avoid western sanctions And, as Kiev's allies say, financing the war against Ukraine.
Kristen Michal, Prime Minister of Estonia, during the European Council. Brussels, March 20, 2025
Ships-gwidma often do not have a flag-which is a violation of international maritime law-and have dubious documentation, and some of them are suspected of participating in sabotage files at the sea bottom.
– It is no secret that in the last year it has appeared in the Gulf of Finnish Many ships that swim without appropriate documentation – said Veiko Kommusaar, an official of the Estonian border police, quoted by ERR. – And it can be clearly said that this is part of the shadow fleet.
The Western authorities intensified efforts to take over illegal tankers, and even considered flooding. Estonia's parliament approved on Wednesday a new law enabling the National Navy to use “military force” towards commercial ships suspected of creating a “threat” for understood critical infrastructure.
In December, the Finnish authorities detained another tanker, suspecting that he sabotaged the submotine energy connection connecting Estonia with Finland.
