“Putin's phantom fleet dilapidated and endangers European security” (German diplomacy)
On Saturday, Germany came to the aid of an oil tanker in trouble in the Baltic Sea. The vessel is believed to be part of the “Russian Shadow Fleet”, the leverage Moscow uses to export its oil, despite Western sanctions.
The German authorities dispatched three assistance boats to the scene, which managed to establish a link with the tanker Eventin carrying 99,000 tons of oil, reports 20 Minutes. Germany wishes to secure to avoid any risk of an oil spill in the area.
On Friday evening, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock reacted to the incident. She accused Moscow of “endangering” Europe's security “not only with its war of aggression against Ukraine” but also “with its dilapidated tankers”.
According to the NGO Greenpeace, the Eventin, which was due to sail to Port Said in Egypt, had previously been detected for transporting “particularly dangerous” oil and for its “technical defects”. The Russian tanker appears on Greenpeace's list of 192 “most dangerous tankers”.
(MH with Manon Pierre - Source: 20 Minutes - Illustration: Unsplash)