Putin dodges the EU embargo with the transfer of crude oil next to Ceuta in ships that anchor in Gibraltar

A ship stands alongside an oil tanker in waters off Gibraltar in a file image. Pablo Blazquez Dominguez (Getty Images)

is a Panamanian

-flagged oil tanker of the Aframax type (up to 120,000 tons of cargo), designed for the transportation of crude oil in short and medium distances.

It set sail on January 28 from Primorsk, the main Russian port in the Baltic, and is heading to Ceuta OPL (

, outside the port), where it plans to arrive on the 15th. The ship, loaded with Russian crude, will not anchor in the Spanish port, but in a contiguous area, in international waters, so you will avoid paying fees and submit to Spanish jurisdiction.

It will be there where, by means of small vessels, she receives supplies and spare parts and, in all probability, transfers the hydrocarbons that she transports to a supertanker or VLCC (

), of up to 320,000 tons, which will take it to its destination in the Far East.

Since the war in Ukraine began, a year ago, these fuel transfer operations between ships on the high seas (known as STS or

from ship to ship, for its acronym in English) have multiplied in the Strait of Gibraltar.

According to data from the energy intelligence company Vortexa, published by

at least 15 ships like

have set sail since last December from the Russian ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga, in the Gulf of Finland, to transfer their cargo in the Strait to large oil tankers, which from there surround the African continent;

while another six have entered the Mediterranean to the Greek port of Kalamata, where they pass the crude to ships that cross the Suez Canal.

The closure of European markets to Russian crude, due to the sanctions imposed by the EU on Putin for the invasion of Ukraine, has forced Moscow to redirect its exports towards China or India.

Using two types of ships to cover the journey --some of limited dimensions, with the capacity to navigate the icy waters of the Baltic, and others of great capacity, for long voyages-- is the way to get the most out of scarce oil tankers and save costs.

According to the Reuters agency, STS operations in the Mediterranean have multiplied by eight last January, to 1.7 million tons, of which almost one million have been transferred alongside Ceuta.

The transfer of oil on the high seas is a high-risk operation, since any accident or spill can cause an ecological disaster.

At the end of October, the Spanish maritime authorities ordered the Panama-flagged tanker

to be towed to the Algeciras anchorage , which suffered a mechanical problem and drifted with the consequent risk to navigation.

Inspectors came on board and discovered other deficiencies, for which he was fined €80,000.

The ship had left Primorsk.

More information

Latest news of the war in Ukraine

The General Directorate of the Merchant Marine ensures that crude oil transfer operations between ships (STS) are prohibited in Spanish waters and, if detected, may lead to the retention of the ship and the opening of a disciplinary procedure.

However, they are not prohibited in international waters, where Spain cannot prevent or regulate them.

This is what happens, according to the Merchant Navy, with the transfer of Russian fuel in the Strait, outside the area under the jurisdiction of the Ceuta Maritime Command, which limits itself to monitoring it and adopting preventive measures, in the event of an incident.

Although Russia manages to dodge EU sanctions with these operations, they do not violate European regulations, since the ships that participate in them are flagged in third countries (mostly in Panama) that are not affected by the embargo.

The Merchant Navy assures that its action "cannot go beyond monitoring these ships and preventing technical assistance [to them] in Spanish ports."

Since last December 5, not only is the purchase, transfer or import of Russian crude oil by sea prohibited, but also "facilitating, directly or indirectly, technical assistance, brokerage services, financing or financial assistance or any other services" to who do it.

The Ceuta Maritime Captaincy has warned companies that provide support to ships in transit through the Strait that they are exposed to heavy fines if they supply Yokohama fenders (a pneumatic cylinder used to protect the sides of ships from hitting the docks or with other ships in STS operations) to oil tankers that transport Russian crude oil, reported

Wednesday .

But Ceuta is not the only port on the Strait.

Opposite is Gibraltar, whose authorities maintain that in the British colony "no ship from Russia or to a Russian destination is allowed to call, or that flies the Russian flag or that we know is owned by Russian interests."

"We can also confirm", they have added, to questions from EL PAÍS, "that no ship is calling in Gibraltar to load STS equipment" for use in international waters.

However, at least two of the ships indicated by Vortexa as participating in the transfer of Russian crude in the Strait have anchored in Gibraltar in recent months.

(VLCC), flying the

Cyprus flag, did so from December 7 to 12.

According to the Gibraltarian Port Authority, the ship came from the Suez Canal, arrived without cargo to refuel and sailed to an unknown destination (“

”, awaiting orders), without “indications of any link with Russia”.

The ship, which arrived in Kochi (India) on January 19, had an EU (Cyprus) flag, so it could be sanctioned if it transported Russian crude, but until last Monday it was allowed to import products derived from it.

More suspicion arouses the

(VLCC), with the Panamanian flag, which was in the western anchorage of Gibraltar (Algeciras Bay) on December 18.

According to her authorities, the

arrived without cargo from Singapore and had not called before in Russian ports, so there were no indications of links to Moscow.

Her captain assured, according to Gibraltarian sources, that she was heading to the port of Ceuta, but the command of the Spanish city assures that the

never arrived there.

It is probable that she stayed in Ceuta OPL, in nobody's waters where the embargo on Russian crude does not apply and neither do environmental protection regulations.

It is not the only apparently erratic voyage in the Strait: the

, a 40,000-ton chemical tanker with the Liberian flag, set sail on December 28 from Ust-Luga (Russia) to spend most of January in Ceuta OPL, with a fleeting visit to the Algeciras anchorage, before returning to the Baltic in early February.

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