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Russia Seizes Oil Tanker Off Estonia, Shaking Up Years-Old Baltic Shipping Agreement
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![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
A Liberian-flagged oil tanker bound for Rotterdam was seized by Russian authorities on Saturday as it transited the Gulf of Finland along a route long cleared with Tallinn, Moscow, and Helsinki, Estonia’s Transport Department said, Estonian media outlet ERR reported on May 18.
The ship, Green Admire, had departed Estonia’s northeastern port of Sillamäe loaded with shale oil and entered Russian territorial waters on what Estonian officials described as the “established, safer deep-water corridor” normally used by large vessels to avoid the shallows inside Estonia’s maritime zone.
“Our vessel-traffic service recorded the moment the tanker was intercepted by the Russian Federation,” the department’s press office told ERR. The ship is owned by Greece-based Aegean Shipping.
Estonia says the tri-national corridor—agreed years ago by Estonia, Russia, and Finland—had never been challenged until now. In response, Tallinn’s transport ministry and the country’s pilot service are preparing to reroute future Sillamäe traffic entirely through Estonian waters “to prevent similar incidents.”
Saturday’s seizure follows a separate confrontation on May 14, when Estonia’s navy tried to divert the Gabon-flagged tanker Jaguar, part of Russia’s “shadow fleet .”
Jaguar ignored hails from an Estonian AW-139 helicopter, M-28 Skytruck patrol aircraft, and the patrol boat EML Raju and instead anchored near Russia’s Gogland Island under escort from a Russian Su-35S fighter.
Estonia’s defense ministry said the Su-35S violated aviation norms by refusing radio contact with Tallinn air traffic control, prompting Portuguese F-16s on Baltic Air Policing duty to scramble from Ämari Air Base.
Estonian officials say no previous detentions have occurred in the corridor and argue that Moscow’s latest actions raise fresh security and navigation risks in the busy Baltic sea lane.
Earlier, Estonian authorities detained the tanker Kiwala, part of Russia’s “shadow fleet,” after discovering dozens of serious safety violations and determining the vessel was operating without a valid national flag.
-21d0b63c17f6020e4df75f6c6f9a2f4f.jpg "Photo of Ivan Khomenko")
