A Latvian company refuels the “shadow fleet” of Russian ships in the Baltic Sea. A risk to national security or nature?

Refueling of ships with fuel does not have to be coordinated either in Latvian ports or outside the territorial waters of the Republic of Latvia. The State Environmental Service has not had any communication with the company on this issue, because according to the legislation, the company is allowed to deal with fuel supply.

The authorities explain: “In the event of an oil spill, the ship’s captain and the company that owns the ship are responsible for the prevention and consequences of the accident, according to the laws and regulations.

The costs of accident prevention are covered by the company or the insurer. On the other hand, if state services are involved in the elimination of the consequences of the accident, then they demand reimbursement of expenses from the cause of pollution. The services of the state in whose waters the spill occurred are involved in the liquidation.

In general, ship traffic and port operations pose risks of environmental pollution, so these types of activities and companies must comply with certain requirements to reduce the possibility of environmental pollution.”

The ships are filled at Gotland Island in the territory of Sweden, but these services are provided by the Latvian company “Fast Bunkering”. This may create a high risk of environmental pollution, as many of these vessels that are refueled are in poor technical condition and are not insured.

If an oil spill were to occur, it could cause significant damage to the already sensitive ecosystem of the Baltic Sea. Considering that the ships are not insured, this would also mean that there would be no one to cover the costs of the oil spill cleanup, as well as to pay compensations for the environmental damage caused.

Using publicly available data on ship movements, SVT has established that fuel is mostly supplied to ships bound for or on their way from Russia. In most cases, these are ships belonging to the so-called Russian shadow fleet – they are old ships that are often not insured.

Bunkering of ships off the coast of Gotland began after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and is legal, reports SVT. The fuel is filled from the tanker “Zirkone”, which is operated by “Fast Bunkering”. The tanker has a Cypriot flag, and its crew includes Russian citizens, reports SVT.