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After mysterious explosions, the Greek tanker fleet increases ship inspections in Russian ports

Six Greek shipping and security companies report that Greek shipping companies visiting Russian ports have boosted their vessel's defences following a series mysterious explosions in the last few months which damaged tankers connected to Moscow's oil trading.

Two Greek sources who are familiar with the strategy say that the measures include underwater inspections of foreign objects by divers.

The West has imposed sanctions on Russia for its involvement in the war in Ukraine. Separately, the Group of Seven major countries has capped the price of oil exported by Moscow at $60 per barrel. This is the lifeline of the Russian economy.

A large amount of Russia's crude oil is exported now by a "shadow fleet" (or unregulated fleet) of tankers. However, shipping data indicates that Greek-owned vessels, which are part of the largest tanker fleet in the world, also carried Russian crude.

Greek shipping companies maintain that transporting Russian crude oil within the G7 cap is a legal trade. The explosions that occurred on at least six ships this year, which called in Russia's Baltic Sea Port of Ust-Luga, and its Black Sea Port of Novorossiysk, have shaken the market.

One of the Greek sources who refused to be named due to the sensitive nature of the issue said that vessels waiting outside Russian anchorages or other zones would move their position at different times in order to make it less predictable. Crews were alert to any movement around their ship.

Two other sources said that remote underwater inspections of the hulls and other measures were being considered.

No official results have yet been released from the various investigations into these incidents, but security sources claim that some of the explosions were probably caused by limpet mines. These are magnetized mines that attach to targets.

Three sources who advise the industry but are not directly involved with the investigation said that they were looking into the possibility of Ukrainian teams being involved in some blasts. This is because Kyiv has objected to Greek ships transporting Russian oil.

Ukraine has not commented on these incidents before. Both its military intelligence agency, and its security services declined to comment about this story when contacted.

The latest incident occurred on 6 July, when the Eco Wizard LPG tanker (liquefied petrol gas) experienced a series blasts in Russia's Ust-Luga Port.

The transport ministry in Moscow said that a small leak of ammonia liquid occurred while the tanker was loading. A dive inspection was scheduled.

Stealth Gas, a Greek-based company, declined to comment. Other sources claimed that the explosion was caused by an explosive device.

An explosion damaged the Greek oil tanker Vilamoura earlier last week as it was sailing near the coast of Libya. According to TMS Tankers, an external explosive device was most likely responsible for this incident, citing a preliminary investigation.

When asked about the investigation that was launched in January after the tanker Seacharm suffered damage in a February blast, the Greek authorities refused to comment citing the classified nature of the information. The Italian authorities who opened a terrorist investigation at the time into the damage caused to another tanker called the Seajewel have not provided any updates since.

MEDITERRANEAN CONNECTION

According to the data analysis, four of the tankers which suffered explosions this year had Greek operators, with another one located in Cyprus.

The incident was the first in many years to involve non-military ships in the central Mediterranean.

Corey Ranslem of Dryad Global's maritime cyber defence and risk information company, Dryad Global in Britain, said that vessels with Russian port callers were "increasingly exposed to sabotage" by state-sponsored or proxy actors amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

Ranslem stated that "despite the relative stability of the Mediterranean compared to other high-risk areas like the Red Sea," vulnerabilities still exist during transit and at anchorages where there is less oversight, such as in Libya.

Ellie Shafik is the head of intelligence at UK-based maritime risk management firm Vanguard Tech. She said that patterns of activity and likelihood of involvement indicated "Ukrainian actors or those with state-aligned interests" may have been involved in certain incidents.

She said that the strategy appears to be covert maritime sabotage using limpets mines.

This method will ensure engine room flooding and immobilization, without causing total destruction to the vessel or casualties among the crew. The nature of this sabotage indicates professional military capabilities. (Reporting and editing by Rachel Armstrong, Tomaszjanowski, and Renee Maltezou; additional reporting by Yannis Soulieotis and Tom Balmforth; Emilio Parodi, Gleb Stolyarov, and Yannis Souliotis);

(source: Reuters)