Drifting 'shadow fleet' tanker sparks Gulf of Finland alert
A tanker from the "shadow fleet" was drifting at the entrance to the Gulf of Finland. It was discovered that the vessel, headed toward Primorsk, had experienced an engine failure. Preventive measures have been implemented to avoid potential environmental damage, the Finnish Coast Guard division reported on Monday.
A tugboat, a patrol boat, and a helicopter were dispatched to the scene near the Hanko Peninsula, approximately 75 miles west of Helsinki.
The vessel with the damaged engine is the M/T Jazz tanker, which is 600 feet long and designed for transporting petroleum products and chemicals. It sails under the Panamanian flag. According to the Coast Guard, the ship is not carrying a load of oil but does have its own fuel reserves on board.
The crew of the vessel undertook repair work and preventive measures to prevent the ship from drifting again. The tanker is currently anchored south of Hanko.
Unrelated to the incident involving severed cables
According to maritime traffic monitoring services, the ship—believed to belong to the Russian "shadow fleet"—was traveling from Sudan toward Primorsk in the Leningrad region.
The Coast Guard confirmed that this situation is not related to the recent incident in the Gulf of Finland involving damage to undersea cables, including the EstLink 2 energy cable and several telecommunications cables, which occurred over the Christmas holidays.
The underwater infrastructure was not threatened in connection with the anchoring of the M/T Jazz, the Coast Guard stated. They added that measures are currently being taken to ensure that, given the difficult weather conditions at sea, the ship does not veer into shallow waters, suffer damage, or start leaking.
