Prosperity

Russia has shipped a diesel cargo aboard the 'Prosperity' to Syria under US sanctions, the first known direct delivery to the Middle Eastern country in more than a decade. The final destination of the shipment is unclear. Russia has two major military installations in Syria: an air base in Hmeimim and a naval base in Tartus, which are integral parts of Russia’s military posture in the Middle East and Africa. Russia’s control of these bases has been under threat since the sudden fall of Bashar al-Assad last year. Moscow has said it wants to maintain its grip on the bases. The convenience-flagged 'Prosperity' (formerly known as the Gabonese-flagged 'NS Pride') was loaded with about 37,000 tons of ultra-low sulfur diesel in the Russian port of Primorsk on Feb 8. The tanker, managed by Dubai-based Fornax Ship Management, has anchored near the Syrian port of Banias. Fornax is also under U.S. sanctions. On Jan 10, the United States had added the 'Prosperity' to its list of sanctions vessels, which includes some 180 tankers involved in exporting Russian oil products following the start of the Russian war against Ukraine. The EU and the United Kingdom did the same on Feb 24.

Greenpeace has painted “RISK” on the side of the 'Prosperiy' in the Kattegat to draw attention to the huge environmental risk that all the old Russian shadow tankers pose to nature and the marine environment. The tanker is one of the many hundreds of aging tankers in the so-called shadow fleet, which helps finance Putin’s war against Ukraine by transporting Russian oil. Its legal owner is unknown. and the ship was subject to US sanctions on Jan 10, 2025, but it is not on the EU’s sanctions list. “We have seen that it has an effect when these oil tankers are placed on the EU’s sanctions list. In the short term, it is the most effective tool we have right now to eliminate this specific threat to our marine nature. The EU will need to get many more oil tankers on the sanctions list now, and ensure a mechanism that more effectively and automatically expands the list if new shadow tankers are launched,” says Greenpeace campaign manager Sune Scheller. According to Greenpeace, the EU has so far only placed 79 vessels on the sanctions list in connection with Russia’s illegal war - 52 of which are oil tankers. Greenpeace has previously identified 192 crude oil tankers as belonging to the shadow fleet. According to data from the research firm Windward, the shadow fleet numbers more than 1,200 tankers, of which more than 1,000 are sanctioned and are on average 21 years old – or about eight years older than the global average age of tankers, increasing the risk of a major environmental disaster. The EU is discussing the possibility of intercepting tankers from the so-called shadow fleet that leave the Baltic Sea and sail through the Baltic Sea loaded with Russian oil. Dozens of tankers from the shadow fleet sail through Danish waters loaded with Russian oil every month. Denmark is among the Baltic Sea countries that will take tougher measures to stop the extensive traffic of older tankers that transport oil through the Baltic Sea and Danish waters. The plans discussed in the EU could risk violating the rules for freedom of navigation set out in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Last week, the Danish Maritime Authority announced that it would begin carrying out port state controls on high-risk tankers anchoring off Skagen. Ships with safety flaws or lacking documentation and insurance risk being detained. Report with photo: https://www.maritimedanmark.dk/greenpeace-i-ny-aktion-mod-russisk-olietransport