Estonian Navy attempts to intercept tanker believed to be part of Russia's shadow fleet

Tanker Jaguar. Photo: Kuvatõmmis

The Estonian Navy attempted to stop a tanker, Jaguar, believed to be part of the Russian shadow fleet, which did not comply with the orders and left the Estonian economic zone.

Estonian Navy ships, helicopters and aircraft participated in the operation. The Russians sent a Su-30 fighter jet, the Polish online portal Defence24.pl reported.

The portal wrote that a recording has appeared online, made from the deck of a tanker sailing under the Gabonese flag, which in reality ships Russian oil as part of the so-called shadow fleet. The exact date of the footage is not known, but considering the current position of the tanker -- which is moored off the coast of Gogland Island -- the largest island in the Gulf of Finland controlled by Russia, the recording is probably up to date, the report said.

The footage shows an Estonian A139 helicopter and an M-28 Skytruck plane of the Estonian defense forces circling the vessel. The next frame shows one of the Estonian Navy's patrol ships sailing in close proximity to the tanker.

According to the Finnish news agency STT, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said on Wednesday that the ship was sent from Estonian territorial waters to Russian territorial waters to prevent a threat to Estonia's critical infrastructure.

«The issue was the ship's flag state, and our most important goal was to ensure the security of critical infrastructure. This was achieved,» Pevkur said.

The ship was en route to the Russian port of Primorsk.

The minister added that they, together with other authorities, came to the conclusion that determining the ship's flag was not a sufficient reason to board the ship.

STT pointed out that according to the Equasis database, which collects shipping data, the ship changed its name and flag state at the beginning of February. According to current data from Equasis, the ship's name is Argent and its flag state is Guinea-Bissau.

The ship's management company and flag state have changed several times in recent years, which is typical of shadow fleet activity. The ship is listed by Greenpeace as one of the Russian shadow fleet vessels, and the New York Times, among others, used the ship as an example of shadow fleet activity in a story published last fall, STT reported.