Mikhail-Dudin

Police arrested four Greenpeace activists on Matrch 2 for blocking the 'Mikhail Dudin', that they alleged was transporting uranium from Russia for the country’s nuclear power plants. Around 20 protestors carrying signs reading “Stop toxic contracts” and “Solidarity with Ukrainians” blocked the 'Mikhail Dudin' at the northern port of Dunkirk to prevent it from unloading its cargo. Activists, some on kayaks, had impeded the ship while a large banner stretched across the lock read “Uranium: EDF loves Putin” — a jab at the French state-owned energy giant. The French authorities then arrested four individuals. The blockade was lifted around 09:00 a.m. Greenpeace has repeatedly accused France of maintaining ties with Russia’s state-owned energy company, Rosatom, despite Putin’s war in Ukraine. “This trade, which indirectly fuels Putin’s war, must stop,” said Pauline Boyer, an energy campaigner for Greenpeace France. The environment group alleged it has “on numerous occasions” observed the 'Mikhail Dudin' unloading Russian natural and enriched uranium in France. The ship has made more than 20 round trips between Dunkirk and the Russian ports of Vistino, Ust-Luga, and St. Petersburg since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on Feb 24, 2022. The 'Baltiyskiy-202', another vessel that Greenpeace alleges transported uranium between France and Russia, has completed more than 15 round trips during the same period. Report with photo: https://www.kyivpost.com/post/71030

The 'Mikhail Dudin' has docked in Rotterdam ton Dec 2. At the end of November, it had delivered uranium from the Russian shadow fleet to France, and its cargo for Rotterdam tonight was likely nuclear fuel. The ship frequently transports radioactive cargo between Russia and Western Europe. Greenpeace reported in November that at least ten containers of uranium, destined for Rosatom in Russia, were loaded during its most recent stop in Dunkirk. The port of Rotterdam is handling this cargo.

The 'Mikhali Dudin', which had sailed from Dunkirk on Nov 15, carrying about 10 containers of reprocessed uranium containing traces of plutonium and other fission products, arrived in the Russian port of Ust-Luga on Nov 26- November 26. It takes about five days for parcels from Ust-Luga to arrive by rail at Tomsk-7, the secret city in Siberia now known by the euphemism of Seversk. Before specialising in nuclear transport, she was used to transport ammonium nitrate and regularly visited the ports of Nantes, St. Malo and Les Sables-d'Olonne. The owner is the Cargo Flow Line Ltd, based in Hong Kong. The operator is the the NWS 2 Balt Shipping Co Ltd. The classification society for the 'Mikhail Dudin' is Panama Shipping Registrar Inc. "Shipbreaking",the Robin des Bois' magazine of information and analysis on end-of-life ships, noted that the Panama Shipping Registrar Inc (PSR) is mainly known for going along end-of-life ships on their final voyages to India, Bangladesh or Türkiye. The PSR is obviously not a member of the IACS (International Association of Classification Societies). Robin des was is surprised that the EDF (French State-owned power utility company) was using a ship like the 'Mikhail Dudin' to transport contaminated uranium between France and Russia and enriched uranium between Russia and France. The 'Mikhail Dudin' was inspected at the port of Ellesmere, five kilometres from the Capenhurst uranium enrichment plant, operated by Urenco on May 2018, followed by a detention for three days with eight deficiencies, and in Oct 2021. The calls at Ellesmere undoubtedly indicated exchanges of radioactive materials between Russia and the United Kingdom. These have been suspended since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. However, the vessel remained a regular visitor to the port of Dunkirk. She was inspected there in Nov 2022, where four deficiencies) were found, in Dec 2023, which resulted in two days' detention with five deficiencies, and in Feb 2025 with three deficiencies.

Greenpeace is calling for an end to the uranium trade between France and Russia after reporting that it has resumed after a nearly three-year hiatus. The group released pictures of containers with spent uranium being loaded onto the 'Mikhail Dudin' in the port of Dunkirk and bound for Ust-Luga on Nov 15. At least 10 containers of uranium, clearly marked with dangerous cargo symbols, were observed arriving in the port of Dunkirk and being loaded aboard the cargo ship, which is owned by a company based in Hong Kong and operates under the Panama flag. The vessel departed the port at midday with an ETA at Ust-Luga as of Nov 25, a run that Greenpeace stated it regularly makes carrying enriched or natural uranium. France, according to Greenpeace, is dependent on Russia to take its uranium that was spent and reprocessed, as Russia has the only plant in the world that carries out the operation of converting the reprocessed uranium. It undergoes conversion and re-enrichment, with 10 % sent back to France according to Greenpeace. They reported that France’s EDF plans to use reprocessed uranium at its 1300 MWe reactors. Between 1994 and 2013, they reported 600 tonnes were used in the four reactors of Cruas-Meysse. Greenpeace has protested the shipments in 2022, leading the French government in Sept 2022 to halt the trade. It had only been resumed in 2021 after previously being halted in 2010. Orano, which supports the nuclear industry, EDF, and Rosatom, was reported to participate in the trade, which sees reprocessed material sent to Russia and a portion returned for re-use in France. Greenpeace called for France to report the quantity of reprocessed uranium exported to Russia since 2022, as well as intervening to stop the exports and demanding a termination of all import and export contracts. Greenpeace believed that France has quietly continued the trade because it has massive stockpiles, approximately 35,000 tonnes of reprocessed uranium in warehouses. They believed that the underlying objective was to dispose of cumbersome stockpiles of radioactive waste, noting that 90 % becomes stored waste. Greenpeace believes that among the future sanctions being discussed for Russia’s energy trade would include blocks on Rosatom’s nuclear trade. It saod they are being considered in addition to the continuing blocks on Russian gas and oil. However, they wanted France to move more aggressively to end the trade immediately. Report with photos: https://www.greenpeace.fr/espace-presse/en-pleine-invasion-globale-russe-de-lukraine-la-france-reprend-les-exportations-duranium-de-retraitement-vers-la-russie/

The 'Mikhail Dudin', which left the Russian Port St. Petersburg on Sep 23, 2025, en route to Dunkirk, has allegedly suffered engine problems off the coast of Karlskrona on the night of Sep 27, 2025. The ship moved uncontrollably and drifted north, before it dropped anchor in pos. 55° 52' N 015° 12' E off Blekinge. The time the crew indicated for repairs has been moved forward a number of times. The Swedish Navy has boarded the ship and interrogated the crew in connection with the international situation and the number of incidents linked to critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. The ship was located in international waters close to Swedish waters. The Navy was cooperating with the Coast Guard, Swedish police and Sweden's allies in NATO. The ship has previously attracted attention in connection with its transport of uranium between Russia and EU countries. The actual cargo of the vessel was not known. It remained stationary at its mooring as of Oct 1.

Despite the sanctions imposed as a result of the Russian attack on Ukraine and the decision to phase out nuclear power, Germany continues to import nuclear fuel for nuclear power plants from Russia. The 'Mikhail Dudin' sailed from the port of St. Petersburg on Sep 5, headed through the Baltic Sea to Rotterdam with an ETA as of Sep 11, 2022. The ship has loaded enriched uranium for the fuel element factory in Lingen (Emsland) in Lower Saxon. In the afternoon of Sep 7, the "Mikhail Dudin" was underway in the Baltic Sea off the Swedish island of Gotland. The uranium should then reach Lingen by road transport in the morning of Sep 12- To get to Rotterdam by Sep 11, there are two options, through the Kiel Canal or across the Skagerrak. The latter route is more likely, since the "Mikhail Dudin" has not passed the canal in recent months and has not yet requested a pilot as of Sep 7 evening. According to the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (Base), the sender of the nuclear transport is the Russian state-owned company JSC Tenex, which in turn is 100 percent owned by the state-owned Russian nuclear company Rosatom. The permit is valid until the end of 2022 and covers a total of 35 transports.The Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke transferred the responsibility to the subordinate Federal Office. The recipient of the uranium hexafluoride is Advanced Nuclear Fuels (ANF), which operates a fuel element factory in Lingen and intends to continue producing nuclear fuel there for nuclear power plants in other EU countries until at least 2032. Several hundred tons of uranium can be processed there every year. The plant belongs to a subsidiary of the French energy group Électricité de France. A subsidiary of JSC Tenex recently wanted to get involved there. However, the Russian-French consortium collapsed in February for unknown reasons. An international group of representatives from Germany, Russia and the Netherlands called for the nuclear transport to be stopped immediately on Sep 7. The alliance called for the embargo to be extended to include nuclear fuels, which are exempt from sanctions against Russia. The international alliance of nuclear power opponents called for the closure of the fuel element factory in Lingen and the uranium enrichment plant in neighboring Gronau in North Rhine-Westphalia, which belongs to the British Urenco Group. Part of the Russian uranium transport was originally supposed to go to Gronau. However, Urenco canceled his order in June. According to the Dutch transport permit, Urenco cited Russia's attack on Ukraine as the reason for the cancellation. ANF ​​obviously stuck to the order.

The container m/v 'Adilia I' was in collision with the cargo m/v 'Mikhail Dudin' in the port of Fredrikstad on Nov 13, 2020. There were no injuries nor pollution as a result of the impact. The Portuguese maritime inspection office has initiated the notification procedures and the collection of evidence of the incident for analysis. The 'Mikhail Dudin' left the port again at 6.55 p.m., headed to St. Petersburg, ETA Nov 22. The 'Adilia I' sailed on Nov 14 at 7.40 a.m. and berthed in Reyjkjavik on Nov 17.

The "Mikhail Dudin" was detained in the port of Ellesmere on May 8, 2018. Eight deficiencies were reported with one ground for detention. The vessel was subsequently released from detention on May 11 and headed to St. Petersburg, where it berthed on May 19.