Denmark is exploring options to restrict the passage of old tankers carrying Russian oil through the Baltic Sea. A group of allied states has been formed that will examine measures against this so-called “shadow fleet” of aging ships, Foreign Minister Lars Rasmussen said.
“There is broad consensus that the Shadow Fleet is an international problem and requires international solutions,” Rasmussen wrote in an email to Reuters on Monday. Denmark is concerned that the old tankers pose a threat to the environment.
Moscow refers to the Copenhagen Treaty
Russia’s ambassador to Denmark, Vladimir Barbin, told Reuters such restrictions would be unacceptable. “The threat to the safety of shipping and the marine environment in the Baltic Sea is not the tankers carrying Russian oil, but the sanctions that the West has imposed on Russia,” Barbin said. Free passage is governed by the Copenhagen Treaty of 1857, which is still valid.
The sanctions were imposed because of the Russian attack on Ukraine. About a third of Russian oil exports go through the Sound (a strait, note) and thus about 1.5 percent of global oil deliveries.
Limiting supplies would put pressure on Russian government finances. Moreover, oil prices are likely to rise.
Source: Krone
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