Estonian Navy detains container ship with Russian crew

Estonian Navy detained the container ship Baltic Spirit near Naissaar Island in Estonia«s internal waters. The vessel, flying the flag of the Bahamas, was traveling from Ecuador to St. Petersburg, as reported by broadcaster ERR citing a statement from law enforcement agencies.

«On Tuesday at 17:10 (18:10 Moscow time), during a joint operation, representatives of the Tax and Customs Department together with a special police unit and the Navy detained near Naissaar Island the cargo ship Baltic Spirit, which is suspected of being used for smuggling,» the statement said.

To detain the container ship, a naval boat, a Navy vessel, and a pilot boat were deployed. The crew of the detained vessel consists of 23 people, all of whom are Russian citizens.

The 188-meter-long cargo ship was in the official anchorage area at the time of the initial customs inspection. After the detention, it was sent to port for a more thorough check.

«We need to consider that this is not a small ship, with a large number of containers, all of which need to be checked,» added the special police unit K-Commando.

According to information available to the Estonian Navy, the vessel is not subject to EU sanctions. Russian authorities have not yet commented on the detention.

It is worth noting that cases of Russian vessels being seized have become more frequent recently. On January 22, French military detained a tanker in the North Sea that was heading from Russia. Two weeks earlier, the United States seized the Russian oil tanker Marinera in the North Atlantic.