German rescue services on Sunday secured a suezmax tanker drifting in the Baltic Sea with 99,000 tonnes of Russian oil on board.
In an operation that involved several tug boats and aircraft, the 152,000-dwt Eventin (built 2006) was towed in heavy weather to Sassnitz anchorage off the German island of Rugen, the country’s Central Command for Maritime Emergencies (CCME) said.
There was no oil spill and no injury among the ship’s 24 seafarers, who had been left without propulsion, heating and running water after a power cut on Friday.
“It was very cold on board following the blackout,” command leaders Jason Muhlstein and Robby Renner said in a joint statement, adding that their team carried out the operation “under most difficult weather conditions”.
German rescue flew in heaters, lamps and emergency generators by helicopter on Saturday.
The incident involving the 152,000-dwt Eventin (built 2006) marks the latest case of littoral states intervening to stop, probe or help a suspicious or malfunctioning vessel carrying cargo out of Russia.
The ship had been disabled and drifting at low speed at noon on 10 January.
According to vessel trackers, the Panama-flagged Eventin was underway from Ust-Luga in Russia to the Indian subcontinent at the time of its malfunction.
The ship is not currently listed on any western sanctions list.
Before May 2024, however, it was trading as Charvi with Dubai-based companies Laguna Shipping & Trading and Fractal Marine — the latter of which shed its fleet after it was hit by UK sanctions against the Russian energy sector.
According to maritime data banks, the Eventin is currently trading with Marshall Islands-registered Laliya Shipping Corp.
The vessel’s unidentified owners has been coordinating with German authorities in helping provide emergency supplies to the stricken vessel.
They furthermore notified the CCME that they had commissioned a pair of tugboats able to operate in the high seas, which should arrive on Monday to eventually remove the vessel.
“Where they are supposed to tow the ship to is unknown,” the CCME said.
The Eventin is currently secured by the 5,090-bhp VB Bremen (built 2001) and the 263-gt VB Meteor (built 2021).
