A German court is to decide whether to free a sanctioned tanker arrested after a rescue operation in the Baltic Sea.
Reuters cited the country’s finance ministry as saying a request by an unidentified plaintiff had been made to release the 152,000-dwt Eventin (built 2006).
The vessel is carrying a Russian crude cargo worth about $30m.
The Panama-flagged ship was held in March after being adrift in the Baltic.
The tanker was sanctioned by the European Union in February.
Law firm Clyde & Co said this was the first time German authorities had taken such steps, and that they had strong legal grounds for the seizure.
Russian authorities said they had no information about the ship or its owner.
A spokesman for Germany’s finance ministry said it was pausing further enforcement measures pending a court’s decision regarding the vessel.
“Appeals for interim relief have now been filed with the competent court against the seizure and confiscation of the ship and its cargo,” the spokesman added.
The plaintiff is not known.
Equasis lists the operator as Vaigai Lines of the Marshall Islands.
The cargo receiver is said to be in India.
The arrest was rare for a sanctioned shadow fleet tanker that routinely avoids ports in the EU while trading between Russia and customers in India, China and Turkey.
The EU sanctions notice listed the Eventin in February for being involved in “irregular and high-risk shipping practices”.
The ship had been hauling crude from Ust-Luga in Russia to the Indian subcontinent, according to ship tracking data.(Copyright)
