As of: April 3, 2024, 5:26 a.m
By: Amy Walker
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The German authorities have been holding a Russian freighter in the port of Rostock for more than three weeks. There is goods on board that are on the EU sanctions list.
Rostock - A Russian freighter has been lying in the port of Rostock for at least three weeks and has been detained by German customs due to EU sanctions and is not allowed to continue sailing. There are goods on board the ship called “Atlantic Navigator II” that are on the list of goods sanctioned by the West. Enriched uranium is also said to be on board - but this is not on the sanctions lists.
Freighter entered the port due to technical problems
“Due to EU-sanctioned goods on board, the ship has received a detention order from customs. Leaving the port is therefore prohibited,” said the Rostock Port and Seaman’s Office. The
Ostsee-Zeitung (OZ)
had previously reported on the ship's arrest on Tuesday (April 2).
According to the information, the 193 meter long freighter flying the flag of the Marshall Islands entered the Rostock harbor for repairs on March 4th due to technical problems with the propeller. The damage was probably caused by driving on ice, the authorities said.
The responsible main customs office in Stralsund pointed out that the ship's cargo, like all goods brought into the EU, was subject to customs supervision. In this context, compliance with restrictions on foreign trade, including sanctions against Russia, will be examined in particular. In this specific case, the investigation is still ongoing. Customs did not provide any details about the cargo.
Uranium is not sanctioned – because of old Soviet reactors
According to research by the
Ostsee-Zeitung,
the ship was on its way to the USA and was loaded with, among other things, birch wood and enriched uranium for US nuclear power plants. This information was confirmed by several sources, the newspaper wrote. The total value of the freight is around 40 million euros. The affected ship is listed in the fleet of a shipping company that operates branches and offices in Canada, the USA, Russia (St. Petersburg) and Ukraine (Odessa), among others.
Russian freighter in the port of Rostock © Jens Büttner/dpa
While the EU has sanctioned timber products from Russia, the US continues to import these goods, worth $2 billion since the attack on Ukraine. Uranium, however, is not sanctioned.
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FDP economic expert Reinhard Houben explained this situation to the
Bild
newspaper as follows: “Especially the nuclear power plants in Eastern Europe, which date back to the Soviet era, are dependent on fuel rods from Russia - only those are suitable.” Sanctioning uranium from Russia is for this reason it was never possible.
With material from dpa