German tug secures disabled oil tanker adrift in Baltic Sea

German rescue teams have managed to secure towing lines to a loaded oil tanker that lost the ability to manoeuvrer in the Baltic Sea near the German island of Rügen, authorities said on Friday.

The stricken tanker Eventin, loaded with 99,000 tonnes of oil, will now be towed to an as-yet undetermined port by the emergency tug boat Bremen Fighter, according to Germany’s Central Command for Maritime Emergencies (CCME).

The 274-metre-long and 48-metre-wide ship remains sealed and does not pose an immediate environmental risk or a danger to the crew on board, a spokesman for the agency told dpa.

The Eventin, which was built in 2006 and is sailing under a Panamanian flag, was en route from the Russian port of Ust-Luga to Egypt’s Port Said, according to the ship tracking platform Vesselfinder.

The ship is part of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” used to export oil despite heavy sanctions on the country, according to a list of Russian-linked vessels compiled by the environmental advocacy organization Greenpeace.

Ships in the “shadow fleet” are often outdated and in poor operating condition.

The Eventin suffered an engine failure and was drifting in the Baltic Sea before being secured, according to CCME, although the cause of the engine failure remained initially unclear.

The CCME said conditions in the Baltic Sea near where the Eventin was sailing included moderate to fresh winds, but the agency did not immediately provide additional details on the weather and swell.

A vessel from Germany’s Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration, the Arkona, was also dispatched to accompany the tanker in addition to the emergency tug Bremen Fighter.

A specially trained maritime response team was also deployed to board the tanker and secure the towing connection.