RUSSIA has signalled it is ready to use force to defend so-called dark fleet* tankers, regardless of the flag or ownership details of the vessel.

On Tuesday evening, Russia deployed a fighter jet in Nato airspace after the Estonian Navy started to escort a tanker from its waters that was heading to the Russian port of Primorsk.

While the tanker, Jaguar (IMO: 9293002), has been widely reported as both Gabon and Guinea Bissau-flagged, it was at the time of the incident sailing without any valid flag registration.

Jaguar, previously named Argent, had moved from the Gabon registry in February to register with Guinea-Bissau, a private registry based in Athens. But Guinea-Bissau officials told Lloyd’s List they cancelled its registration on May 2, leaving the tanker to return to Gabon for just seven days when Gabon then also revoked its provisional registration after the UK government sanctioned the vessel on May 9, citing its engagement in Russian oil trades.

According to the Estonian Defence Force, Jaguar, as it was quickly renamed, was “a vessel without a nationality” at the point the Estonian navy sought to verify the vessel’s documents and legal status on the evening of May 13.

At approximately 1830 hrs, as Jaguar approached the northern tip of Naissaar Island, the Estonian navy contacted the vessel via radio transmission.

“The vessel denied co-operation and continued its journey toward Russia,” said Commodore Ivo Värk, Commander of the Estonian Navy.

“Given the vessel’s lack of nationality, the use of force, including boarding the vessel, was deemed unnecessary, but [Estonian naval patrol vessel] ENS Raju escorted the tanker until it exited the Estonian Economic Exclusion Zone.”

It was while the Estonia navy was escorting the tanker that a Russian Air Force Su-35 fighter jet entered Estonian airspace without permission. The jet stayed in Estonia airspace for less than a minute, however that was sufficient for Nato to launch Portuguese Air Force F-16 fighter jets in response.

Jaguar then proceeded to Primorsk, where it arrived on Thursday morning.

A spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry did not mention the incident in a weekly briefing, nor was a question asked, although a video purportedly of the flyover has appeared widely in Russian media and across social media platforms.

According to a spokesperson for the Estonian Defence Forces, the decision to verify Jaguar’s documentation and status was entirely in accordance with Article 110 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The spokesperson also stressed that at no point did the Estonian navy attempt to detain Jaguar, it simply escorted it out of the Economic Exclusion Zone.

According to independent Unlcos academics consulted by Lloyd’s List, the Estonian account of the incident suggests its actions were entirely within the scope of Unclos.

Protect the shadow fleet

The Russian response of scrambling a fighter jet to defend the tanker, however, marks a significant escalation in response to what has now become routine monitoring of dark fleet transits through the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland.

“The Russian Federation has taken its first military step to protect the shadow fleet,” said the Estonian Defence Forces spokesperson in a statement issued to Lloyd’s List.

“The unprofessional behaviour of the Russian Federation’s air force near the shadow fleet’s vessel demonstrates that monitoring and sanctioning the shadow fleet is effective, and that such efforts must be further intensified.”

“The Russian Federation is violating international law and airspace, and is causing dangerous incidents in the Baltic Sea. This is unacceptable”.

While EU states have stepped up monitoring and verification of dark fleet vessels it suspects presents a security or safety concern, so far naval intervention has been limited to requesting documentation.

Boarding and inspecting vessels of interest in the high seas or in the exclusive economic zones of the EU member states, remains an option “where allowed under Unclos or after obtaining the consent of the flag state to that effect”. However, in the case of Jaguar, the lack of flag state would have made that impossible.

It is not the first time Estonian forces have detained a flagless vessel. In April, the navy detained the similarly UK-sanctioned Kiwala (IMO: 9332810), which was falsely flying the flag of Djibouti as it headed to Ust-Luga. It was later released after port state control deficiencies were rectified.

The European Commission announced last month that all vessels, including those merely passing through EU waters without entering an EU port, were now required to provide insurance information. However, previously voluntary requests had been ignored by over 20% of the vessels contacted and the commission has not released any data regarding the success of more recent interventions.

The commission has also declined to detail what options member states could take if tankers refuse to offer valid documentation or proof of insurance.

The Jaguar incident prompted Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas to warn that “the number of such incidents in the Baltic Sea and the likelihood of escalation are increasing”.

Paluckas told reporters the events “gave a clear signal that such tankers in the Baltic Sea are being protected by Russian military forces”, the Baltic Times reported.

He added that while the incident “doesn't reveal anything we couldn't or shouldn’t have known”, it confirms that “the risk of serious escalation is increasing with every step”.

The status of Jaguar, meanwhile, remains unclear.

Jaguar’s registered owner is a Mauritius-listed company called Sapang, but it has had multiple owners, commercial managers and ISM managers since being sold by dark fleet pioneers, Gatik Ship Management.

The vessel continues to indicate its registration with Gabon via its AIS data, despite being cancelled on May 10, by the order by the Maritime Administration of the Gabonese Republic due to inclusion of the vessel to the UK sanctions list.