The product tanker BLACK STAR was refused to entry Barcelona, Spain, on April 27th over allegedly transporting Russian cargo to the EU. The “Ministerio de Transportes, Movilidad y Agenda Urbana” (MITMA), a department of the general state administration in Spain, intervened and refused entry to the vessel while requesting permission to arrive in port. The department further ordered the vessel to vacate Spanish territorial waters.
The General of the Merchant Marine, Ministry of Transport, has stated that they were advised of the ship’s illicit activities, namely ship-to-ship transfer of Russian Cargo. It is alleged by the “European Maritime Safety Agency” that the product tanker BLACK STAR transferred oil cargoes from a Russian flagged tanker, Andrey Pervozvanniy, at an anchorage 12.5 miles off the coast of Malta. Andrey Pervozvanniy was denied entry to Barcelona earlier due to the EU sanctions on Russia.
The 5th package of sanctions introduced on April 11th against Russia by the European Union delineated a ban on buying Russian coal and Russian vessels entering EU ports. Spain has cited this ban as refusing entry to BLACK STAR.
