According to reports, mysterious tankers have been transporting crude oil in the waters of the Gulf of Finland due to the G7 capping the price of Russia’s oil at about $60. The EU and the UK outlawed the import of Russia’s crude oil by sea, which compelled Moscow to increase its long-distance shipments with dubious boats.
The chances and episodes of dangers to maritime security and the environment have significantly gone up as a result of the arrival of hundreds of impaired tankers in the crowded Gulf of Finland.
As the authorities are not aware if “ghost tankers” are insured fully, all consequences in the event of a potential accident and/or an oil spill could easily fall on nations such as Estonia and Finland.
Lieutenant Commander Tuomas Luukkonen associated with the Gulf of Finland’s Coast Guard shared a similar note that their estimate is that some of the vessels have crew members who may never have previously sailed in this area. There is a scope for an accident owing to that, Luukkonen said to Ilta-Sanomat.
Ulla Tapaninen is a tenured associate professor associated with maritime transport at the Tallinn University of Technology who added that shipping majors are handling the oil supplies from ports in Russia.
Per Tapaninen, many shipping firms have popped up in the past six months about which only little is known.
As they do not halt at the European ports, the authorities do not acquire information on the crew members, the state, or the age of these vessels, Tapaninen explained.
Source: News Insight, Euractiv