Salary debts and a broken GPS: a Russian tanker was detained in the port of Murmansk

In the port of Murmansk, due to complaints from Russian sailors, the tanker Unity under the flag of Lesotho, which is part of the so-called “shadow fleet” of Russia, was detained.

The reason was the appeal of the Russian Seafarers’ Union, which spoke about the crew’s complaints about salary debts, writes BusinessCensor.

In particular, the Russian sailors complained about the non-working satellite communication and serious violations in the ship’s documentation.

The Port Control Inspectorate refused to release the Unity (IMO:9388792) until the discrepancies were eliminated and the obligations were paid. As of August 13, the total amount of debt to 20 sailors was 4.9 million rubles and $28.5 thousand.

The sailors reported that one part of the crew works under contracts with Argo Tanker Group LLC, which is not the shipowner, and the other part with FMTC ShipCharter LLC. Some contracts, they say, contain references to a collective agreement with the Russian Seafarers’ Union, which was not actually concluded.

Until August 2025, the tanker sailed under the Gambian flag. Due to the change of registration to Lesotho, the sailors feared that their contracts were no longer valid and they would not be able to apply to the mutual insurance club (P&I) if the shipowner could not repay their salary debts.

It is noted that the office of Agro Tanker Group is located in Moscow, and it itself belongs to ATG Holding JSC and is engaged in the sale of fuel. Since January, the company has been under US sanctions.

It is also known that the Unity tanker is transporting Russian oil at a price above the established ceiling. This year, the vessel was sanctioned by the UK, the EU, Australia, Canada and Switzerland as part of Russia’s “shadow fleet”.

Read also: Lithuania calls on the EU to seize Russian assets and strengthen sanctions against Rosneft and the shadow fleet.