Poland’s military scrambled a patrol flight to “scare off” a shadow fleet tanker performing suspicious manoeuvres near a power cable linking the country to Sweden.
The action took place on
Poland’s military scrambled a patrol flight to “scare off” a shadow fleet tanker performing suspicious manoeuvres near a power cable linking the country to Sweden.
The action took place on Wednesday, according to the government.
European nations have stepped up scrutiny on Russia-trading tankers after a series of incidents involving damage to cables and pipelines.
“A Russian ship from the shadow fleet covered by sanctions performed suspicious manoeuvres near the power cable connecting Poland with Sweden,” prime minister Donald Tusk said on X.
“After the effective intervention of our military, the ship sailed to one of the Russian ports,” he added.
Polish defence minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz told reporters a patrol flight scared the ship off. A navy ship was sent to the scene.
Vice admiral Krzysztof Jaworski told Reuters the ship was the 159,000-dwt Sun (built 2005), flagged in Antigua and Barbuda.
The insurer is unknown.
AIS data showed the tanker left Sikka in India in March and was underway east in the Baltic on Thursday morning, signalling Tallin in Estonia as its destination.
The vessel is listed as owned by Wavewhisper Shipping of Turkey, which could not be contacted.
“This shows how dangerous the times we live in are, how serious the situation in the Baltic Sea is,” Kosiniak-Kamysz told a news conference.
“Since Sweden and Finland joined the North Atlantic Alliance, the Baltic Sea has become a key marine area, where the largest number of incidents occur, the most common incidents related to cable breaks… and sabotage,” he added.
On Monday, a Greek-managed tanker resumed its voyage after being held for about 24 hours in Russian waters in an ongoing row between Moscow and its Baltic neighbours.
Vessel tracking data shows the 114,400-dwt Green Admire (built 2022) re-entered international waters in the Gulf of Finland in a western direction.
The ship, which is in the fleet of Piraeus-based Aegean Shipping Management, had been held since Sunday at anchor just off the Russian-controlled island of Gogland.
The move was widely interpreted as a tit-for-tat move following the repeated interception of Russian-trading vessels by several Baltic states over the past few months.
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