Godt jobba av redaksjonen!
Sjekk denne flygingen den 19. mars. Det kan virke som om det er en sammenheng her. (Red.)
Oil tanker Gunmetal Jag unexpectedly made port call to Kirkenes. The ship has previously sailed Russian oil from the Black Sea.
Shadow fleet
tanker en route to Murmansk makes sudden port call in Kirkenes
The 183 meter long
oil tanker crisscrossed along the Norwegian coast before it set course for the
seaport located only few kilometres from Russia
Atle Staalesen
After days of suspicious navigation, the Gunmetal
Jag on Thursday afternoon suddenly made port call in the
Kirkenes Port. Ship traffic data show how the oil tanker for a week sailed
back-and-forth in the Norwegian Sea. As it approached the maritime border to
Russia in the Barents Sea, it made a sharp turn towards Kirkenes.
During the ship's stay in Kirkenes, several pallets
with goods were put aboard. According to Konev, the goods were inspected by
Norwegian Customs officials and declared in line with regulations.
A Norwegian Coast Guard vessel has been in the area since the Gunmetal Jag arrived to Kirkenes. An inspection of the tanker was conducted, the Coast Guard confirms to the Barents Observer.
She adds that an underwater inspection was conducted.
"The Coast Guard conducted an underwater drone
search of the ship hull," Olafsen says. "This is one of the Coast
Guard's many responsibilities," she explains.
"We are aware of this ship and conducted control
on board together with the Customs and the Coast Guard after its arrival
yesterday evening," says Marion Olsen, leader of the local Police
operative border control.
She adds that she can not provide further comments on
the ship control.
"With regard questions about police measures
against a ship that arrives from outside the Schengen area, we can not provide
comments on the issue, neither about possible findings during the
controls."
It is not clear why the Gunmetal Jag decided
to change crew in Kirkenes and not in Murmansk, which is the ship's original
destination.
Murmansk is one of Russia's major ports for oil
export. Millions of tons of crude extracted at Arctic fields are shipped to the
Kola Bay and subsequently reloaded to tankers for export to international
markets. Following the Russian full-scale war against Ukraine and the
introduction of international sanctions, a significant share of Russia's oil is
exported by so-called 'shadow fleet' tankers.
The tankers are sailing under flags of convenience and
usually have a muddled ownership structure. Many of the tankers that pick up
oil in Murmansk are 'shadow vessels.'
Until recently, the name of the Gunmetal
Jag was Gunmetal Jack. Photos of the ship
hull show that the new owner has painted over the last letter and turned the 'c'
into a 'g.'
The tanker is not on the sanctions lists of the
EU or the USA. But it can still be considered as part of the 'shadow fleet'
that is involved in shipments of Russian oil. In 2023, it took part in
controversial shipping of Russian oil from the Black Sea, whereupon it was
included in a database compiled by a Monitoring Group of the Black Sea
The Gunmetal Jag until recently sailed
under the flag of the Marshall Island. In 2024, it change its flag state to
Liberia. At the same time, it was reportedly sold by Greek company Empire Navigation Inc to
the Turkish Besiktas Group.
The former shipowner was involved also in illegal
shipments of oil from Iran. In 2023, the Empire Navigation Inc pleaded
guilty in smuggling
sanctioned Iranian crude oil and agreed to pay a €2.2 million fine.
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