Explosions reported on dark fleet tanker
The crude oil tanker was at berth at Ust-Luga when explosions rocked its engine room on February 9
The Antigua and Barbuda-flagged suezmax Koala experienced several explosions in its engine room before preparing to sail but Russian authorities said there was no damage to its cargo tanks
A DARK fleet* tanker was rocked by several explosions in its engine room on Sunday, February 9, while at berth at the Russian Baltic port of Ust-Luga.
The Antigua and Barbuda-flagged, 164,533 dwt crude oil tanker Koala (IMO: 9234642) is on Lloyd’s List Intelligence’s dark fleet watchlist and arrived at Ust-Luga on February 6.
At around 0200 hrs on February 9 three explosions “thundered” in the tanker’s engine room, a Lloyd’s List Intelligence casualty report said.
The vessel’s crew of 24 managed to get ashore without injury, but Koala ran aground at its stern as a result of the incident and the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situation installed booms around the vessel.
Koala was loaded with 130,000 tonnes of fuel oil, immediately sparking concerns of an environmental incident in the Gulf of Finland.
But the Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport of Russia (Rosmorrechflot) said there had been no damage to the tanker’s cargo holds and no oil had leaked, state news agency TASS reported.
Governor of Leningrad Oblast Alexander Drozdenko said on Telegram that the incident as a “man-made incident” that occurred during engine start up. He added there was no threat of an oil spill and that there had been no casualties.
But Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said his government was “closely following” the news and said Finland had increased its oil spill readiness response as a result of the incident.
Baltic states have expressed concern about the potential for an oil spill form a dark fleet tanker before. Swedish foreign minister said Russia “doesn’t care one bit” about the potential for a big oil spill, while Finland’s alternate permanent secretary to the International Maritime Organization said Finland, Sweden and Estonia had warned a meeting at the European Maritime Safety Agency of a “catastrophe waiting for happen” from a dark fleet oil spill.
The Nordic-Baltic 8 countries began asking dark fleet tankers for proof of insurance in late December 2024, and along with the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland said they would take “coordinated steps to disrupt and deter Russia’s shadow fleet”.
In the latest effort to bolster efforts against Russia’s dark fleet, Denmark’s minister of business and industry, Morten Bødskov, held a meeting with Danish maritime organisations to discuss how the industry could strengthen the enforcement of sanctions against Russia.
Danish Shipping deputy chief executive Jacob Clasen said, “Danish shipping companies have already very clearly chosen to be on the right side of history” and had chosen to go “beyond the sanctions and opt out of sailing to Russia”.
* Lloyd’s List defines a tanker as part of the dark fleet if it is aged 15 years or over, anonymously owned and/or has a corporate structure designed to obfuscate beneficial ownership discovery, solely deployed in sanctioned oil trades, and engaged in one or more of the deceptive shipping practices outlined in US State Department guidance issued in May 2020. The figures exclude tankers tracked to government-controlled shipping entities such as Russia’s Sovcomflot, or Iran’s National Iranian Tanker Co, and those already sanctioned.
