‘Strong’ legal reasons to seize sanctioned Russian oil tanker, says shipping lawyer
There are “strong” legal reasons behind Germany’s seizure of a sanctioned suezmax tanker and its cargo of Russian oil, according to shipping lawyers.
But it is not yet certain if further seizures of shadow fleet ships will follow.
Last week, German authorities impounded the Panama-flagged 152,000-dwt Eventin (built 2006), which was rescued after being found drifting in the Baltic Sea in January.
The ship was sanctioned by the European Union the month after.
The Russian crude on board is worth about $30m, according to VesselsValue.
Law firm Clyde & Co said this is the first time German authorities have taken such steps.
Partner Volker Lucke and associate Bastian Pohler explained that enforcement measures are not expressly provided for in EU sanctions regulations.
They generally require a specific legal foundation in national law, the duo said.
German authorities can justify seizures within the framework of sanctions violations on special provisions contained in the German Foreign Trade Act, the lawyers said.
And customs authorities can take “appropriate measures”.
These include the seizure and sale or destruction of goods, if they are transferred into the customs territory of the EU but cannot be released into a customs procedure because they are subject to trade restrictions, Lucke and Pohler said.
They said there are “strong arguments” to suggest that vessels such as the Eventin can legally be seized if it can be established that they were used for illicit operations.
An example of this would be the transport of Russian oil traded above the G7 oil price cap.
There are also “good arguments” for authorities legally seizing the cargo, they added.
“We will follow with interest the measures that the German authorities will take in the wake of the seizure. It also remains to be seen whether further seizures of ships from the so-called shadow fleet will follow,” the lawyers said.
The move was a rare occurrence for a sanctioned shadow fleet tanker that routinely avoids EU ports while trading between Russia and customers in India, China and Turkey.
The EU sanctions notice listed the Eventin in February because it was 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.
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