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Russia Stops Cyprus-Flagged Cargo Ship Heading to Estonia in Gulf of Finland
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Russian border guards detained a Cyprus-flagged cargo vessel bound for the Estonian port of Sillamäe while it was passing through Russian territorial waters in the Gulf of Finland, ERR reported.
The vessel, Vasterbotten, was traveling through an area of Russian territorial waters where ships are permitted to transit under an agreement between Estonia, Finland, and Russia. Estonia’s Police and Border Guard Board confirmed that the vessel had been detained.
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According to vessel-tracking data cited by ERR, Westerbotten appeared to have entered Russian territorial waters before it was stopped. The ship was later allowed to resume its voyage, departing at around 5 p.m. and continuing toward Sillamäe.
The route through Russian waters is covered by an agreement between the three countries because it provides a safer passage for larger vessels than navigating shallower waters on the Estonian side.
Are Piel, head of the Vessel Traffic Management Department at the Estonian Transport Administration, said that while the incident was unwelcome, inspections of vessels within a country’s territorial waters were not unusual.
“Every country has the right to inspect vessels in its territorial sea, and apparently the Russian administration considered it necessary to inspect this vessel as it passed through their territorial sea,” Piel said.
He added that all vessels have the right to innocent passage through another country’s territorial sea, but stressed that this does not prevent the coastal state from inspecting them.
The Estonian Transport Administration said it had received no explanation from Russia regarding the reason for the vessel’s detention.
The incident comes amid growing scrutiny of Russian maritime activities in the region. Russia is working to expand a new “shadow fleet” of tankers in an effort to bypass British sanctions and preserve revenues from energy exports, The Telegraph reported on October 1, citing the UK Foreign Office.
The reported expansion involves a network of civilian vessels used to transport Russian fuel and generate revenue that supports Moscow’s war against Ukraine. The fleet reportedly includes at least two newly built tankers designed to carry liquefied natural gas (LNG) through Arctic waters.
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