Cerus

The Danish police intend to inspect the 'Nira'. Investigators confirmed the ship's origin, but have not yet commented on the reasons for the planned search. The ship left its anchorage in the Kattegat on March 5 at 10 a.m. and berthed in the port of Aarhus at 8 p.m., and it will be searched at the APM Container Terminal. The Danish Maritime Authority detained the ship, which was coming from the Russian port St. Petersburg, in February, and since then, it has been anchored in the northern Kattegat. The ship was sailing under the flag of the Comoros, even though it was registered as an Iranian vessel. According to the US Treasury Department, the ship is subject to international sanctions and is connected to the shipping company Reel Shipping LLC,. This company, in turn, is controlled by Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, whose father was a close advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Both Shamkhani's father and Khamenei were killed in the US and Israeli attacks on Iran at the end of February.

The Danish Maritime Authority has decided to detain the 'Nora', which has been anchored east of Aalbæk, coming from Basrah, in pos. 57° 36' N 010° 55' E since Jan 23, 2026. The Authority believed that the ship has provided incorrect information about its flag state. The vessel had gone dark while it was in St. Petersburg, Russia, in mid-January and then sailed west into the Baltic and reached Skagen. On Jan 23, it anchored less than 20 miles east of Aalbæk, where it has remained for the past 28 days. A Danish patrol ship was spotted near the vessel along with a Danish Armed Forces sea drone. When the ship dropped anchor,, it did so under the Comorian flag. However, when the Danish Maritime Authority contacted the ship registry in the Comoros, it turned out that the ship was not registered in the African island state. On Feb 11, the ship changed flag agaiin and was now reportedly sailing under the Iranian flag. The Danish Maritime Authority had detained the ship until a flag state has documented that it the 'Nora' hsd nrrm registered and certified with them. In addition, the Danish Maritime Authority planned to carry out a port state inspection on board as soon as weather conditions permitted. The 'Nora' was called 'Cerus' until a few months ago, and is subject to sanctions from both the US and Ukraine. The Americans were believing that the ship was part of an Iranian shadow fleet owned by Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, who is the son of one of the clerical regime's top advisors. The Ukrainians was believing that the ship is sailing with weapons and has been used to transport stolen assets from the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine abroad. The container ship has changed owners and flag states several times since it was built in Japan in 2003. Something was indicating that the ship, regardless of name and flag state, has been Iranian-controlled in recent years, with Iranian officers, which rarely happens without the ship being Iranian-controlled. The 'Cerus' had passed through Danish waters at least 10 times in 2025, as part of frequent trips to St. Petersburg. Each time the vessel has stopped sending position data as it approached Russian waters. The 'Nora' remained stationary as of Feb 23.