An oil tanker sailing under the Panamanian flag that ran out of power in the Baltic Sea last week has been towed to safety off the German island of Ruegen, authorities said.
The Eventin, carrying nearly 100,000 tons of oil, is being held in position by two tugboats in a roadsted off the port of Sassnitz, where it arrived in the early hours of Sunday morning, according to Benedikt Spangardt, a spokesman for Germany’s Central Command for Maritime Emergencies. It will remain there until a decision is made about how to proceed, he added.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has blamed Russia for the incident, accusing it of threatening European security with the use of a fleet of “dilapidated oil tankers.”
Spangardt said the Evertin started its journey in the Russian port of Ust-Luga and was heading for the Suez Canal. Rescue teams managed to tow it to an anchorage after it lost power last week and thus the ability to maneuver.
It’s the latest in a series of incidents involving Russia-linked ships in the area. Police in Finland recently detained the Eagle S, a tanker authorities suspect of damaging undersea cables in the Baltic Sea in December. NATO is stepping up its surveillance operations in the Baltic Sea following the suspected act of sabotage.
The US on Friday announced the most sweeping and aggressive sanctions yet on Russia’s oil trade, just days before President Joe Biden leaves the White House to be replaced by Donald Trump.