Estonia changes ship route due to tanker detention by Russia

After Russia detained a tanker from Estonia in its waters, the country will redirect ships to another route.

The decision was made by the Department of Transport, ERR reports.

From now on, the Department of Transport’s shipping management department, together with pilots, will direct ships arriving in and leaving Sillamäe through Estonian territorial waters.

Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna also said that ships will continue to follow a different route.

“Today’s incident shows that Russia continues to behave unpredictably, so ships will be redirected to another route in the future,” Tsahkna commented. “The oil tanker Green Admire followed a route agreed with Russia through its territorial waters when it left the port of Sillamäe. This navigation route, chosen to ensure the safety of navigation, which does not pass strictly beyond the state borders, was established by mutual agreement between Russia, Estonia and Finland.”

He added that he had informed Estonia’s allies about what had happened. The minister also noted that Russia had begun to behave extremely dangerously in the Baltic Sea.

“This is clearly due to the fact that we have started to put pressure on the Russian shadow fleet. And I am not only talking about Estonia, but also about Finland and the countries of the Baltic region in general. Within the European Union, we have already added more than 300 shadow fleet vessels to the sanctions lists. We check all the vessels, their documents. And, as you can see, we have the ability to intervene if necessary,” he said.

“Of course, Russia does not like this at all. In the conditions of all other sanctions, the shadow fleet is extremely important for it,” Tsakhkna noted. — About 50-60% of Russian oil and all trade pass through the Gulf of Finland using this fleet. And now we see the consequences: it is becoming increasingly difficult for Russia to do this business.”

According to the minister, the incident came as a surprise, since an agreement had been reached between the countries on the possibility of ships passing through the specified section.

“They just wanted to demonstrate strength, for us it is not a problem. Our pilots will now take ships out of Sillamäe through Estonian territorial waters. Yes, for large ships it is a little more difficult and dangerous due to the shallows, but we will cope. We must react calmly and consistently, but understand that Russia is unpredictable and truly dangerous,” Tsahkna emphasized.

The Estonian Foreign Ministry does not plan to summon a temporary charge d’affaires for the Russian Federation.

“We do not see a direct need for this right now. If you look at the situation, it is actually quite calm – the tanker obeyed, there was no use of force – but, of course, we are closely monitoring whether the vessel will be able to continue its movement,” Tsakhkna said.

Recall that the other day in the Baltic Sea, Russia detained the oil tanker “Green Admire”, which was heading from the Estonian port of Sillamäe to Rotterdam.