Russian oil tankers threaten Baltic Sea environment

In October, the German oil tanker "Annika" was towed safely back to the port of Rostock in the Baltic Sea after it had caught fire just an hour after its departure. Nobody was injured and damage to the environment was averted.

According to the environmental organization Greenpeace, Germany's Baltic Sea coasts are under constant threat, without the public taking much notice. Dilapidated Russian oil tankers sail through the Baltic Sea in international waters every day.

The environmental organization is not the only one concerned about the coastal region. 

Daniel Schneider is the chairman of the Bundestag's parliamentary group on maritime policy for Germany's center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) . "The average age of the tankers is very high," Schneider told DW. "They are around 16 to 17 years old. They are poorly maintained, which means they have many technical defects. But above all, they are also inadequately insured. We already have several hundred ships on the sanctions list, and this list needs to be expanded."

He also calls for intensified cooperation with states like Panama or Greece, under whose flags many of the old tankers are registered. Schneider argues these states should prohibit unseaworthy ships without sufficient insurance from obtaining a permit.

Greenpeace has put together a list of vessels longer than 180 meters (590ft) they say should be taken out of service urgently. Of these, 192 of them had no insurance and had traveled the Baltic Sea at least once in the past 18 months. Their destination is mostly India or China. The shipping route northeast of Rostock is considered the most difficult and dangerous area in the Baltic Sea. Still, according to Greenpeace, the ships usually sail without local support or pilots.

Greenpeace is calling for EU sanctions. "As soon as these tankers are on the sanctions list, they will no longer be used for Russian oil exports. And that's exactly what we need now," argues Greenpeace activist Thilo Maack.

After the full-fledged invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, far-reaching sanctions were imposed on Russia by Western countries, particularly by the European Union. However, experts argue that this has done little to reduce the volume of Russian crude oil exports.

Russia allegedly assembled an entire fleet of vessels sailing under other countries' flags. They undertake what Maack calls "adventurous" actions on the open sea, decanting oil from one ship to another in order to disguise its Russian origin. According to Maack's estimates, Russia has invested around €10 billion ($11 billion) in a fleet of dilapidated tankers.

Russia's 'shadow fleet'

While overall shipping traffic on the Baltic Sea has declined since 2022, the traffic of Russia's "shadow fleet" has increased by 70%.

Concern is mounting also in Denmark. In the summer, the government in Copenhagen announced that it wanted to examine whether Russian tanker traffic could be restricted or even banned. The government in Moscow promptly insisted on old agreements on freedom of navigation in international waters, such as the Copenhagen Convention of 1857, which stipulates that all Danish straits are free for all commercial shipping.

Now, the state governments in Germany's northeastern regions have decided to raise awareness and seek ways to take action to curb the number of dilapidated oil tankers traveling unchecked across the Baltic Sea.

This article was originally written in German.

While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing.