Germany has started to ban Russian ships from entering territorial waters

German authorities have started to ban vessels associated with Russia from entering territorial waters. One such incident occurred on January 10 with the "zombie" tanker Tavian, which was reportedly heading to St. Petersburg.

Recently, the federal police of Germany began to prohibit ships of the Russian "shadow fleet" from entering national territorial waters in the Baltic and North Seas. This was reported on Thursday, January 15, by the news portal Tagesschau, which studied data from the radio stations NDR and WDR, as well as the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ).

According to the media, on January 10, the "zombie" tanker Tavian (which means it has illegally changed its identification number from the International Maritime Organization) entered German waters in the North Sea. It was likely heading to the Baltic Sea to reach one of the oil terminals in St. Petersburg.

The federal police of Germany dispatched a helicopter to the vessel and demanded that the captain provide all information about the ship. The inspection confirmed that Tavian has been on the U.S. sanctions lists since 2021 and is currently sailing under a false flag with a forged identification number. Soon, German law enforcement announced that they were prohibiting the vessel from passing through their waters in the Baltic Sea. After that, Tavian turned around and left - likely because the captain feared the confiscation of the ship.

Similar incidents have occurred before

Previously, German law enforcement rarely took any measures against ships of the Russian "shadow fleet." However, in recent months, the situation has begun to change. In particular, Germany denied passage to its territorial waters for the research vessel "Akademik Boris Petrov," sailing under the Russian flag, and the oil tanker Chariot Tide. The latter reported technical problems and dropped anchor on the night of December 5 while in German waters of the North Sea.

This occurred just a few nautical miles from underwater telecommunications cables. In light of previous incidents involving cable damage, German law enforcement boarded Chariot Tide and inspected it. The vessel, which was originally flying the Gambian flag, continued its journey on December 7, but under the flag of Mozambique.

The change in Germany's policy regarding "shadow fleet" vessels is largely related to the use of false flags. As the media points out, German authorities previously operated under the assumption that, according to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, all ships have the "right of innocent passage" through the territorial waters of any country. However, the document also states that this right is only granted to vessels sailing under the genuine flag of their country. In particular, U.S. authorities referenced this point when taking measures against Russian "shadow fleet" tankers.