Baltic States Eye Stricter Ship Impoundment Rules to Target Russian Trade
Several EU members, including Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, are exploring measures to strengthen ship impoundment rules in the Baltic Sea. Their aim is to disrupt Russian trade by targeting vessels on environmental and piracy grounds, according to a Politico report.
Western nations have accused Russia of employing a “shadow fleet” to evade sanctions on energy exports. They also allege that Moscow has been sabotaging undersea cables in the Baltic, although no concrete evidence has been presented to support these claims.
The four states intend to seize suspected shadow fleet ships based on the perceived threat they pose to the environment and infrastructure. They plan to seek EU backing for this initiative and may amend national legislation to facilitate impounding ships further out at sea. Estonia’s Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna believes there are “lots of opportunities” for enforcing trade restrictions against Russia.
Last December, Finland seized the tanker ‘Eagle S’ amid an investigation into damage to the Estlink 2 power cable. Despite finding no evidence of wrongdoing, the vessel remains impounded.
Conversely, a Norwegian cargo ship with an all-Russian crew was released in late January after Norwegian police found no grounds for continued detention. The Latvian authorities had requested its seizure due to an incident involving an optic cable owned by the national broadcaster LVRTC earlier that month.
Russia has dismissed Western accusations of sabotage as a false narrative, criticizing the lack of findings in European inquiries into incidents such as the September 2022 destruction of N. Moscow has slammed this approach as “fantastic hypocrisy.”