The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced that it has detained a ship from Russia’s “ghost fleet”, which was illegally transporting agricultural products from Crimea, occupied by Russia. The ship was detained in a commercial port in Odessa, according to an SBU statement. The vessel arrived under the flag of an African country to pick up a shipment of steel pipes.
The ship’s owner was sanctioned by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, so he regularly changed the ship’s name and formal beneficiaries in third countries, according to the post. The SBU added that, before Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, the freighter docked in Sevastopol at least seven times to illegally export agricultural products and, in January 2021, transported nearly 7,000 tons of grain from Crimea to North Africa.
The ship’s crew, consisting of a captain and 16 members, is made up of citizens from several Middle Eastern countries. Road plans, pilot cards, cartographic materials, and radio communication logs were found, which constitute evidence of illegal entry into the ports of occupied territories. SBU investigators have opened criminal proceedings under four articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, including financing attempts to overthrow the constitutional order, high treason, transport violations, and illegal entry and exit from the occupied territory, according to the SBU statement. Russia’s ghost fleet has increasingly been targeted by Western sanctions, as Ukraine’s international partners try to limit Russia’s oil revenues, which contribute to financing Moscow’s war machine.
The ghost fleet includes hundreds of older patrol boats, often uninsured or poorly maintained. They usually operate under the flag of other countries and have low transparency, which makes it difficult for regulatory authorities to enforce sanctions.