The German authorities first spotted the vessel Tavian carrying Russian oil in the Baltic Sea. This is a so-called 'zombie' tanker, which has illegally changed its identification number. It is classified as part of Russia's 'shadow fleet,' DW reports.
For the first time, a Russian oil tanker "zombie" passed by the Baltic coast of Germany. This term is used in the maritime industry to refer to old vessels that have illegally changed their unique identification number from the International Maritime Organization (IMO). This information was confirmed to DW by the German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (Dienststelle Schiffssicherheit) on Tuesday, December 30.
Russia Uses One of the Oldest Tankers in the World
They reported that suspicion was raised by the oil tanker Tavian with IMO number 1095337, which passed through the Baltic Sea in early December carrying a cargo of Russian oil. "We share the suspicion that the vessel Tavian is illegally using an IMO number," the agency stated in response to a DW inquiry.
The agency noted that this is the first case of a "zombie" tanker appearing off the coast of Germany. The agency believes that Tavian is the tanker Tia, which was originally assigned the IMO number 9147447. In the segment of large oil vessels, this is "certainly one of the oldest tankers in the world still in operation," the agency added.
Russian 'Zombie' Tanker in the 'Shadow Fleet'
The British maritime magazine Lloyd's List first reported on this vessel on November 18. The article discussed several "zombie" tankers in the world's oceans. One of them was identified by experts as the tanker Tia (IMO number 9147447), which was sanctioned by the U.S. in August 2024.
"Its current identifier is based on a completely fabricated IMO number. The fake number 1095337 does not exist in the IMO database," the article stated. Experts from Lloyd's List recognized the vessel as part of the "shadow fleet."
According to the magazine, in May 2025, the vessel left the Chinese port of Zhoushan under the name Arcusat and the flag of Guyana. It was heading west and soon turned off its transponder. In July, it reappeared in the Gulf of Oman, but under the flag of Cameroon and the name Tavian. On October 15, it entered the Russian port of Primorsk.
Why Didn't Germany Stop the 'Zombie' Tanker?
The German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency explained to DW that the tanker Tavian, also known as Tia, passed by the shores of Germany in international waters, so the German authorities had no right to stop it.
However, on December 10, vessels from the German federal police and the German Federal Agency for Maritime Casualty Response (Havariekommando) approached the tanker, the northern German newspaper Kieler Nachrichten reported on December 27. According to their information, the captain of Tavian then contacted German representatives via radio and provided them with information about the vessel's insurance.
The Vessel Was Built for a German Company
As Kieler Nachrichten reports, the tanker is 27 years old and in extremely poor condition. In Primorsk, it loaded about 100,000 tons of Russian oil. The vessel was built in 1998 at a shipyard in South Korea for the German shipping company Reederei Nord. At that time, the tanker was named Nordmark. Since then, it has changed its name 12 times. Kieler Nachrichten believes that its IMO number was forged while it was docked in Zhoushan, China.
The fraud can only be definitively proven by checking the engine of the vessel from the German company MAN, the newspaper writes. All its parts have a serial number. But such a check can only be conducted if the tanker enters a port in Germany or another EU country. If the fraud is confirmed, the vessel may be confiscated. Therefore, Tavian avoids entering western ports.
According to online portals VesselFinder and MarineTraffic, the vessel has been anchored in the Aegean Sea for the past few days, and on December 30, it set sail towards Senegal. Both services, relying on open data, are confused about the name of the tanker: in their databases, it is listed as both Arcusat and Tavian.
