Spanish authorities said on Tuesday they were escorting in the Mediterranean an oil tanker that had broken down and is under international sanctions for allegedly serving Russia’s sanctions-busting “shadow fleet”.
The Mozambique-flagged “Chariot Tide” lost power on January 22 while heading to Tanger Med port in the Gibraltar Strait, a narrow body of water separating Spain and Morocco, Spanish transport ministry sources said.
The vessel, sanctioned by the European Union and Britain, then dropped anchor “close to the coast of Morocco” before a recent storm “moved the ship eastwards through the Alboran Sea” in the western Mediterranean.
The sources did not indicate the nature or quantity of the ship’s cargo but said there was “no risk of approaching the coast”.
After initially entering an area of Moroccan responsibility, the tanker “found itself without power in international waters” but within Spain’s search and rescue zone.
The ship is now navigating towards its declared destination of Tanger Med after an engine repair, escorted by a ship belonging to Spain’s maritime rescue service, the ministry sources said.
“Spain has monitored the situation at all times” through its maritime rescue service “and will continue to do so until the ship calls at its port of destination”, they added.
According to tracking platform Global Fishing Watch, the “Chariot Tide” was docked at the Russian oil terminal of Vistino in late December before travelling towards the Mediterranean.
Western powers have targeted vessels believed to allow Russia to continue reaping profits from its sanctioned energy industry, a major source of finance for Moscow’s almost four-year-old invasion of Ukraine.
Last week, the French navy boarded a sanctioned vessel believed to be a Russian oil tanker flying a false flag in the Mediterranean, after a similar operation in September.
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