DR ‹ › An oil tanker under EU sanctions for transporting Russian crude is being escorted to the Tanger Med port in Morocco by a Spanish maritime rescue vessel, Spain's Merchant Marine announced on Tuesday. The tanker, Chariot Tide, which sails under a Mozambique flag and was previously known as Marabella Sun until November, is being escorted to Tanger Med by the Spanish rescue ship Clara Campoamor, according to Reuters. Spain's Merchant Marine said the tanker suffered an engine failure on January 22 and had been drifting without propulsion in international waters, about 53 km south of Adra in the Almería region, an area that falls within Spain's search-and-rescue zone. The vessel has been under EU sanctions since November 2024 for assisting Russia in exporting oil while engaging in what the bloc describes as irregular and high-risk shipping practices. It is also subject to UK sanctions, according to the British government. According to industry estimates, between 1,200 and 1,600 vessels operate as part of a so-called «shadow fleet», helping countries such as Russia, Iran, and Venezuela bypass Western sanctions and export oil, mainly to China and India. These ships are often aging, have opaque ownership structures, sail under multiple flags, and operate without top-tier insurance, the same source added. It is worth noting that since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, the European Union, the G7 countries, and Australia have imposed a series of sanctions on Moscow. The measures include a maritime ban on importing Russian crude and refined petroleum products into the EU and other G7 states, with limited exemptions.
