EUROPEAN Union member states are yet to decide the details of how ships will be targeted and potentially banned under new sanctions agreed on Wednesday.

While the 11th package of sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine was signed off by ministers yesterday, the measures aimed at stopping other countries and companies from circumventing existing sanctions are yet to be fully defined.

The agreed text promises to ban access to EU ports for ships which engage in ship-to-ship transfers, if there is cause to suspect the cargo was of Russian origin. Risk factors including suspicious gaps in Automatic Identification System signals and ship-to-ship transfers have been detailed in the new sanctions, but the final guidance to coastal states responsible for enforcing the measures is yet to be written.

No agreement has yet been reached on the length of potential port bans for ships identified by a coastal state to have violated the new measures.

Lloyd’s List understands that a new centralised EU database to control port bans will be established alongside a reporting mechanism for states to flag violations, however there has been no final agreement on the specifics of how ships will be targeted.

The sanctions, which are set to be formally adopted by the end of this week, will require member states to monitor potentially suspicious shipments. Industry officials are waiting to see the criteria set to be applied and have had no indication as to whether a centralised EU guidance on what constitutes “suspicious” activity will now be issued.

The now well established process for EU sanctions packages suggests that a final text of the measures will be published this week, however officials have indicated that the detailed “FAQ guidance” that sets out specific criteria for member states could be as much as two weeks away.

That would leave a significant gap where member states are simultaneously required to monitor suspicious activity, but have no guidance on how to apply the new requirements.

The latest package has been under discussion since early April and has been mired in political horse-trading as states sought to remove continuous details and avoid diplomatic repercussions.

One area of heated debate was a list of private companies, including several Greek shipping companies, that Ukraine had labelled “war sponsors”.

Ukraine removed the five Greek shipping firms from its list overnight on Tuesday, stating that their status had been “suspended for the period of bilateral consultations involving representatives of the European Commission”. That appears to have been sufficient to secure the political backing of Greece for the sanctions package to move ahead. However, the bureaucratic officials further down the political food chain have not yet had time to respond, leaving transport departments and port officials without any immediate clarity regarding enforcement.